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Alisha Hines ♦
Football is the most beloved sport in Belize, and many Belizeans faithfully attend every match in their area or watch the live stream from home. As fans, many cheer on the star players and give them all the credit when they play a great game. They would go off, metaphorically swelling the heads of the players or flirtatiously complimenting them on how attractive they were on that field. Fans go out of their way for the sport, supporting the players at home or abroad; however, we must bear in mind that these players did not become great in football on their own.
This brings me to the mastermind behind many of Belize’s successful footballers: my grandfather Allan Hines Sr. who also goes by the nickname “Wasi.” The dedication that he has put in, day and night, molding footballers from the south into skillful players with good sportsmanship, has not been sufficiently recognized or seen. As his granddaughter, seeing how much he loves this sport and all he has done for players has inspired me to write about him.
My grandfather grew up in Punta Gorda Town where he spent most of his time playing football with his siblings. He told me that when they were young and didn’t have a football, they would improvise and use a coconut or anything round that could roll on the ground. Grandpa Allan grew up among bushes, which forced him and his siblings to pick up a machete and clear a little area to make their own personal field. The passion they had for football wasn’t just in their younger days, though; as he and his siblings grew up they continued to improve daily on their skills. His favorite saying is, “Nobody ever succeeds or becomes better at anything overnight.” That is probably one of the reasons for his countless early morning and late night football activities.
Everyone in my family is a big fan of football, and it so happens that my great granddad was also a well-known footballer, who went by the name of “Berty" Hines. This explains a lot why his kids grew up the way they did and dedicated their lives to football.
Grandpa never spends a day without working out, even though he is old now, at the age of 58. Neither does he fail to pester my soul to tag along so I can get some extra exercise as well. I have never seen anyone so dedicated to a sport as my grandfather is, or who works out so hard to keep fit.
Eventually, seeing the potential in many guys in Punta Gorda, he decided that training them to become better at football would give them a great opportunity to one day join the National Team of Belize. So, in 1992, he and his brother Glenford Hines formed the Estrellas football team in Punta Gorda—one of the best things they could have ever invested their skills in, to see the best come from the youths in our community. As a coach and manager of the team, he has gained the respect of many of his players and maintains healthy relationships with them all. This did not only benefit him, for as his granddaughter, I was also respected and looked out for wherever I went, when these footballers were around.
I also got a little involved with the team. When they had games, I would write down the number of the jersey each player took, so that Grandpa could have a count of how many jerseys were being used and could identify a player by his jersey number. The part that I ran from, though, was when a game was finished and he had coached the players about something, and they had messed it up on the field, he would scold everyone, including me, as if I was the one playing on the field!
After the years of hard work that my grandfather put into training these players, a good amount of them were selected to join the National Team. This was the greatest news to my grandfather because this was his goal behind all this work. When I heard the news, I was pretty excited too because I knew first-hand about the great deal of work my granddad had put in and how much he wanted them to join this team—to show their talents and represent Belize.
Many of the people of Punta Gorda started to look up to him and respect him more. Many times, though, he would not be noticed by his country or hailed for the great work he has done in making these footballers so skilled and talented. These are the things that make a country look good; so, collectively, we should appreciate those behind the scenes more and not only the ones in the spotlight. My personal observation, from living with him, is that he doesn’t seek any recognition or accolades in order to continue doing what he does.
The people of Punta Gorda don’t fail to shout him out, though. Last year, just before Independence Day in September, he got a call from the mayor saying that he would receive a plaque. He didn’t know why they would call him to receive a plaque, and he wanted to know for what. I said to myself, this man is so dedicated to football; it has to be a plaque to thank him for the amount of time he gives to football. Grandpa, on the other hand, thought it was for his taxi service because he had many years of being a taxi driver. The day came and he went to receive his award. Guess what? The award was for the amount of years he had dedicated to sports and molding our PG boys to catch the National Team. Grandpa was in shock because he never thought it would be for sports. This goes to show you that this man was not even thinking about gaining recognition. All he desired was to make his community and country go a long way with football, even if nobody knows he is the mastermind behind these successful footballers. Nevertheless, he was very happy and sent pictures to the entire family.
Being able to live with him my entire life until I started university was a pleasure because I myself got to learn many of his skills and values. Whether he is shouted out or not, he sticks to his dedication for the sport. As he would always say, “give all your time to what you love. You won’t always get noticed for the good works you're doing, but definitely the ones you mold will always give you that honor and respect.” This is why I am writing, for everyone to be aware that, yes, we are all huge football fans, but our great footballers did not reach the level that they are on their own. We must give recognition to the unsung heroes who work tirelessly to improve the quality of our nation’s football team.
Photos by Joycelyn Lopez, Denesha Baltazar, Allan Hines Sr., Alykah Hines, and Alisha Hines
Alisha Hines is a nursing major at the University of Belize. She lives in Punta Gorda Town and enjoys traveling and singing.