Belize national basketball team
Encyclopedia
The Belize national basketball team is the official national representative of Belize
in international men's basketball, playing in the FIBA Americas
division, and more specifically, within the Central American region.
, Belize. Belize placed seventh of eight teams in the 1999 Centrobasquet Tournament in Havana after winning only 1 game despite playing close all the way. In a return engagement at the 2000 CARICOM championship in Barbados, Belize placed fourth. Shortly thereafter, Belize moved to the Central American region and won the Central American Games championship in 2001. The team has failed to duplicate this success, most recently finishing with a 2 and 4 record in the 2006 COCABA championship.
The team finished second in the 2009 COCABA tournament in Cancun, Mexico where it went 3–0 in group play despite allegations of fielding ineligible players. FIBA decided to treat the Belize National Team's games as unofficial and initially decided to disqualify them from the competition for having more than one naturalized citizen on their team. Belize won an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in April 2010, the players in question are Belizean by decent, not naturalization.
Belize won its opening match in the Centrobasquet Tournament, defeating Trindad and Tobago, but lost badly to Mexico in a rematch of the COCABA final. A tough win over Cuba set Belize in position to advance, but they fell to Puerto Rico in their final match and failed to qualify.
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
in international men's basketball, playing in the FIBA Americas
FIBA Americas
FIBA Americas is a zone within FIBA which contains the 44 FIBA Federations located in the Americas. FIBA Americas is headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico.- National teams :CONCECABACaribbean...
division, and more specifically, within the Central American region.
Men
The men's team has little to no international experience. Its first major victory in international play came on home soil in the 1998 Caricom Men's Basketball Championship, held at the Civic Center in Belize CityBelize City
Belize City is the largest city in the Central American nation of Belize. Unofficial estimates place the population of Belize City at 70,000 or more. It is located at the mouth of the Belize River on the coast of the Caribbean. The city is the country's principal port and its financial and...
, Belize. Belize placed seventh of eight teams in the 1999 Centrobasquet Tournament in Havana after winning only 1 game despite playing close all the way. In a return engagement at the 2000 CARICOM championship in Barbados, Belize placed fourth. Shortly thereafter, Belize moved to the Central American region and won the Central American Games championship in 2001. The team has failed to duplicate this success, most recently finishing with a 2 and 4 record in the 2006 COCABA championship.
The team finished second in the 2009 COCABA tournament in Cancun, Mexico where it went 3–0 in group play despite allegations of fielding ineligible players. FIBA decided to treat the Belize National Team's games as unofficial and initially decided to disqualify them from the competition for having more than one naturalized citizen on their team. Belize won an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in April 2010, the players in question are Belizean by decent, not naturalization.
Belize won its opening match in the Centrobasquet Tournament, defeating Trindad and Tobago, but lost badly to Mexico in a rematch of the COCABA final. A tough win over Cuba set Belize in position to advance, but they fell to Puerto Rico in their final match and failed to qualify.
Most recent games
- 1st group match, Centrobasket: Belize 80–71 Trinidad and Tobago
- Final, 2009 COCABA Championship, Cancun, Mexico: Mexico 106–103 Belize
- Semifinal, 2009 COCABA Championship: Belize 99–75 Costa Rica
- 3rd group match: Belize 92–88 Panama
- 2nd group match: Belize 100–63 Guatemala
- 1st group match: Belize 98–67 Nicaragua
COCABA championships
- 2009: 2nd
- 2007: did not participate
- 2006: 3rd
- 2004: 7th
- 2001: did not participate