- July 11, 2023
- Posted by: BTB Admin
- Category: Community, Donations, News
Belize City, Belize, Monday, July 11, 2023: The new state-of-the art synthetic Berger football field, located at the corner of Vernon and Sarstoon Streets in Belize City, was officially inaugurated on Sunday, July 9th. The project is the brain child of Hon. Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations.
For decades, the historic Berger Field has seen the growth of many of Belize’s top football players. Due to its importance, the project to upgrade Berger Field into an iconic place for football began last year. This was undertaken as part of a joint venture among the Belize Tourism Board (BTB), the Ministry of Sports, Youth, and Transport via the National Sports Council, and the Football Federation of Belize (FFB).
The scope of the project included the construction of a fully synthetic 120 ft. x 180 ft. football pitch built to FIFA standards. It has corresponding team dugouts; bleachers with a seating capacity of around 200 spectators, extra seating areas around the premises, beautiful landscaping, a parking lot, drainage, vendor booths, a security booth, and two small playgrounds. This will soon be followed by the installation of lights for night use and security cameras. The Belize City Council also joined as a partner in the construction of the parking lot and the drainage system and helped with the paving of Sarstoon Street for smoother connectivity to the field.
As soon as the project was completed, the Berger Field came back to life as the host venue for the Mundialito tournament. In addition, various Summer football camps have been held there giving many of the youths, the surrounding neighborhoods, and the Belize district community at large, the joy and excitement of playing in a world-class standard field.
In his keynote address during the inaugural ceremony, Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño remarked that projects like this one are poised to help change the face of the Southside of Belize City to one that is buzzing with activity and creates a positive and healthy environment for youths and the community.
Hailed as the man of the hour during the ceremony, Hon. Anthony Mahler, stated that this project has been his lifelong dream because of the positive impact it has had on the development of our younger generation and Belizeans in general, especially for Pickstock residents. He also expressed gratitude to the FFB, the BTB, and the Ministry of Sports for jointly funding the project.
Other speakers at the official opening ceremony included the Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Cordel Hyde, Hon. Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Youth, Sports, and Transport, the Minister of State in the Ministry, Hon. Gilroy Usher, Mr Allan Pollard, Deputy Mayor of Belize City, and Mr. Sergio Chuc, President of FFB.
An important feature of the Berger Field project is that it was completed by Belizean-based companies. The Project Executing Unit comprising of past NSC Director, Mr. Ian Cal, FFB representative, Mr. Ian Jones, and BTB representative, Director Josue Carballo were also instrumental in ensuring that the project was successfully completed to FIFA standards.
SOME PHOTOS OF THE OFFICIAL INAUGURATION OF THE BERGER FIELD
