By Belize Live News Staff: They walked into Costa Rica’s backyard, took on the hosts in the final, and walked out with gold around their necks. The Belize Men’s National Volleyball Team are champions of Central America, winners of the country’s first ever senior men’s volleyball gold medal.
The historic triumph came at the III AFECAVOL Men’s Final Four Championship in San José, where Belize toppled Costa Rica three sets to one in the title match. The Belizeans came out swinging, banking the first two sets 25-22 and 25-18. When the hosts rallied to take the third 25-20, the moment demanded nerve, and Belize answered, finishing the job 25-21 in the fourth to spark golden celebrations.
The milestone stacks history upon history: the first gold for a Belizean men’s volleyball team, the first senior-level gold for the country, and a ticket punched to the NORCECA Men’s Pan American Cup next year, where the region’s giants await.
Individual brilliance ran right through the squad. Francis Hauze swept up the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award and Second Best Attacker honours, while Kyron Sutherland was crowned Best Blocker. The final standings told the sweetest story of all, Belize first, Costa Rica second, Panama third, Nicaragua fourth.
The golden generation crossed home soil at the Santa Elena border just after 5:00 p.m. to a jubilant reception. The coach revealed the title was forged in the sting of a fourth-place finish at the Central American Games, with the full roster assembled only a month before the tournament. From there, belief did the rest.
Hauze, the MVP, deflected every ounce of praise onto the group. His teammates, the setters, passers, blockers, and defenders, and the coaching staff, he said, are the reason the trophy and his award exist, adding simply, “The work continues.”
Captain Elton Anderson allowed himself a breath of the historic air before turning to the horizon. “It’s a historic moment so we got to soak that in,” he said, before promising the team would “work twice as hard” for the bigger tests coming at the Pan American Cup.
Kings of Central America. Owners of a nation’s first. And by their own words, only getting started. Take a bow, boys, Belize is proud.
