CCC Boys Win National Football Championship

In March, 2006, the boys' football team at Corozal Community College brought home the first national championship for the sport in the history of the school. The last national championship for the school was in basketball in 2000. At People's Stadium in Orange Walk Town, on March 17-18, 2006, they first shut out the Central Division champions of St. John's College 1-0 on Friday afternoon. On Saturday morning they secured the championship by winning over the Southern Division champions of Delille Academy, 2-1.

In the championship game, Clifton West helped take the lead in the first half with a solo drive through the defense, luring the goalie out to meeet the play. With the goalie on the ground, West slammed the ball into the unguarded net.

In the second half, West again scored when the goalie deflected a shot and he recovered the rebound and drove it past the goalie into the net. The Delille boys were energized by a goal, but they failed to even up the score when they suffered an impediment by losing a player to a red card ejection after a flagrant foul on a Corozal player.

The Most Valuable Player award went to Clifton West, on the winning CCC team. He scored all three goals in the two games of the finals. He received a $700 scholarship from the Football Federation of Belize. West plans to use the scholarship money for his sixth form studies, and his goal is to major in Accounting at Corozal Junior College in the fall of 2006. In an interview with corozal.com, West said of the event, "It was a great experience. We attempted the championship three times, and in my final year at CCC, I told myself we must do it now. So in my training I always wanted to go the extra mile." Obviously, for West, the ambition paid off. In 8 games on the way to the championship, he can claim credit for 18 goals. In the final game at the district level, with the final score over Cornerstone Presbyterian Academy 8-1, West gets credit for 5 of the goals. West wants to continue his football success with his plans for attending Corozal Junior College.

Thanks to The Reporter for the some of the information above and for permission to reproduce the photos on this page.