Belize's National Men's Volleyball Team was in El Salvador for three days competing in the Association of Central American Volleyball Federations Men's Final Four Championship. In the end, they came out in second place - an accomplishment that hasn't been reached in the past 25 years.
But the excitement was quickly quelled after the team - which was traveling via bus - was stuck in Guatemala for 6 hours due to a protest. According to a member of the team, Bryton Codd, there were hundreds of people blocking the streets, and they were advised to stay away from the area until it cleared up.
But for these athletes who spend 3 intense days playing volleyball, it was not just concerning but also exhausting. We spoke to Codd via phone today.
Voice of: Bryton Codd, National Men's Volleyball Team
"We just left San Salvador, El Salvador this morning at midnight actually and we knew that there were going to be some protests in Guatemala so we tried to leave a bit earlier to beat it but right as we got to the cut off, they had already blocked the road. And that was about after 6 this morning. And we've been here since. It seems to be a teacher's protest that's happening but there's a lot of people out here and they're coming in by the thousands. And it doesn't seem to be anything that's violent but we know that last week there was also one at Puerto Barrios and that turned out to be violent because they had called in the riot squad and it got out of control. But we're seeing a lot of ambulances and a lot of police vehicles. There's an armored vehicle out here already by the protest site down forward and we're advised not to go anywhere near there. We've also been advised to take off all our Belize clothing and just wear regular clothing. That's the advice from our foreign ministry. And we're really just waiting it out, it's hot, we're exhausted but we can't go anywhere, we can't do anything right now."
"This is my second time driving, once was for Guatemala and this is my first time going to El Salvador to play but I know people often complain about driving on these roads because of a series of different safety concerns. When we were actually going to San Salvador, there was an oil tank that exploded, we were stuck in traffic for four hours and couldn't move so we got to El Salvador later than we actually wanted to. But certainly we as athletes, we're exhausted when we show up to these tournaments after these 15 to 20 hour rides and then you have to go through that long process after finishing a tough match yesterday and so we certainly see the need for there to be more investment, particularly in travels. Make it easier on the athletes to be able to focus and concentrate on what we have to do."
The roads began clearing up at 12, and according to Codd, they had about a 6 hour journey before they would reach the border in Melchor.
