By now every Belizean knows that the country's U-21 Female Volleyball team won silver in Saturday night's Championship game.
But despite what some would call a loss the country is has stood in awe of the fighting spirit that took this promising team to the near pinnacle of regional Volley Ball success.
And today their skill, their spirit and their promise were celebrated by the team's biggest sponsor, an organization filled with former athletes and coaches who beamed with pride at the silver medal that was once unthinkable. Cherisse Halsall has that story:
Belize's U-21 Female Volleyball Team is just now coming off the thrill of winning a Silver medal in last week's Central American Volleyball Championship.
And today they were honoured with a celebration thrown at HRCU, the headquarters of the team's top sponsor.
And even with silver, there is still a silver lining:
Avianca Avila, Volleyball Player
"To be able to come in second, to place it's a very good feeling because like you feel you know amazing that the work paid off."
Marcy Mejia, Volleyball player
"When we're all beating ourselves up about it I'm reminding my teammates that throughout all the rest of the games we have to think about all of the things that we've pushed througth and all of the successes and not only think about the last game. We have to think about all the things that we did well in all those games instead of all the negativity because we really did push hard and it's something very good silver and we really did accomplish it."
And that accomplishment was bolstered today by the absolutely moving words of the team's assistant coach, Lupita Quan.
Lupita Quan, Assistant Coach
"When you are organized good things happen. I know some of us are still heartbroken from the last game lost but I want the team to understand that the expectations of gold only happened because of the incredible performance you put out there the previous three games. You were almost perfect you didn't drop a single set in the three games you were almost perfect. You didn't drop a single set across any of the games, that's very difficult."
"I'm truly proud ladies and I'll be honest with you gold was never on my mind going into that tournament. I wanted to medal but the way you performed over those first three games everybody wanted gold. You need to recognize it is because what you did so great made the expectations so high."
But if you'd ask HRCU's CFO, a man whose history is tightly entwined with a volleyball he'll tell you that the sport has come a long way.
Clement Usher, Chief Financial Officer, HRCU
"Winning points yes, maybe a set or two here and there but winning a medal never happened but we participated and were good ambassadors for Belize and our teams improved at every game that we attended so now the secret is out you young ladies know exactly who judge Lupita got her coaching skills from."
And among all those that received thanks from the team were the Belizean people who showed their numbers last weekend in support of the milestone silver medal win.
Allan Sharp, Head Coach
"I want to thank the Belizean people they were very very supportive. Volleyball has come a long way and we can see that we are managing in sport to get a lot of support from the Belizean people because we are a people of pride. We are a people that want to see our country succeed. We can do it, we show that we have the talent, we surpass them by far and of course when you have support like HRCU this is what happens when you can work together. When the federation can work together, with the sponsors, can work with coaches, can work altogether, big things can happen. Big things happen."
Sophia Solano, Team Captain
"We feel so proud to represent Belize and to wear that flag on our chest, you know it's an incredible experience. We have just felt the love from our country and the love of being Belizeans you know representing our country in sports."
Now, it's on to Honduras and the next round of games where the girls plan to fight even harder.
Henry-Charles Usher, Legal Counsel, HRCU
"As you prepare to travel focus on the learning and improvement that is the goal of volleyball, congratulations once again to our under-21 team Belize you inspire the next generation of Belizean girls."
But what's the strategy for Honduras?
Avianca Avila, Volleyball Player
"The strategy is just to have fun but also to try our best, you know work hard."
Marcy Mejia, Volley Ball player
"So we're definitely going to be working on service, passing, all the things that we've seen were the problem in this competition and we are going to keep our mindset high as well so that we can do better and yes hopefully just work together a lot better."
