After about 10 weeks of competition, the local football tournament is over and Team Legends has claimed the first place trophy. The competition was jointly sponsored by Shalom Church, the San Pedro Town Council and the Caye Caulker Water Taxi, and it saw nine teams start in the competition, leading to the final first, second and third places. The top three winners took home trophies, medals and cash prizes. Winning the opening Marathon back in June Legends started their winning streak pretty early. Legends also won the SP Belize Express football tournament earlier this year, and after weeks of playing, now has the bragging rights as champion of the Shalom, CCWT and SPTC Football Tournament.
Held on Sunday July 29th at the Ambergris Stadium, the games were scheduled to start at 1:30PM. Going up for third place was supposed to be Harmouch and Nairi. However, after a 45-minute wait on Team Nairi, officials named Harmouch third place winners by default. A little after 3PM it was time for Legends and Belizean Shores to go head to head for first and second place.
Breaking the nil-nil streak was Legends with the first goal being scored within the 38th minute of the first half. This was followed by another three goals garnering them the championship. Goals to win the tournament were scored by Francisco Noralez (1), Linden Galvez (2) and Daniel Caliz (1). It appeared to have been a very hard game for Belizean Shores but they managed to finally score one goal late in the second half, resulting in a 4 – 1 win for Legends.
For third place, Harmouch took home a trophy and $100 in cash. In second place, Belizean Shores walked away with $250 cash, a trophy and medals for each player. First place winners, Legends took home $500 cash, the largest trophy and individual medals. Trophies of appreciation were also issued to each officials of the game.
Best players’ trophies were also awarded as follows:
- Best Goal Keeper – Jerry Trejo
- Best Striker – Linden Galvez / Jesse Guerrero
- Best Defense – Carlos Briceño
- MVP – Jacinto Pinelo
- Best Manager – Abner Rivero
According to organizers, The Shalom Church plans are well underway for a second in the series of local football competitions. The San Pedro Sun joins the organizers in congratulating the sponsors, organizers and players, who were all instrumental in making the tournament a success. Team Legends owner Abner Rivera would also like to thank Captain Morgan’s, Captain’s Casino, Armando Graniel Jr., Mike Catzim and Elvis Budna who sponsored their team throughout the competition.
