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Just say the words “Pan Am” and softball in the same sentence and it brings memories flooding back for sports fans who remember Belize’s glory girls of the 70’s. They shocked the world when they pulled off an unthinkable upset of the US team in the 1979 Pan Am games. Well now a new national selection is going to play in another kind of Pan-Am games, the Pan American Women’s Championships. And while the event is different, the ambition is the same, these girls hope to shock if not the world – at least the region by earning a berth in the Central American and Caribbean games. Today, Jacqueline Godwin found out if the 2009 team can find a portal to channel the spirit and the skill of the teams of the 70’s.

Patrick Henry, President - Belize Softball Federation
“This is a game of endurance and stamina. It is a game of the smart. It is a very technical game and it’s a team game so if you cannot work as a team then there is no place for you on the national women’s team.”

And some of the faces of the former players which adorn the walls inside the headquarters of the Belize Softball Federation represent some of the finest to have played the game. And just as eager to gain a spot among the best are these young women who have already gained local notoriety as the team that will represent the country in the upcoming seventh Pan American Women’s Softball Championship. If the young ladies are successful, Belize will be among the seven teams to qualify for the twenty first Central American Games in 2010.

Patrick Henry,
“And this is the one we are working towards because we feel as the federation, we can qualify and we will qualify to go back to where it all started some 36 years ago.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
Why are you so optimistic?

Patrick Henry,
“Because there are 20 countries and looking at the countries and the ones in our division, Belize can and will certainly win their games against them.”

Softball in Belize started 77 years ago, in the 1930’s and four decades later those humble beginnings blossomed into a series of victories.

Patrick Henry,
“Won a number of medals regionally, internationally, starting with the gold medal won in 1974 at the 12th Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic and as we look back today it is a record that is still standing. Belize won ten games during the championship and lost only once. The record of the pitcher with the most wins, the lowest earn run average Linda Lewis is still the only record that remains intact.”

But are there any future Linda Lewis’s among the new pool of softballers in the thirty six member national team?

Patrick Henry,
“We cannot return back to 1970 to 1987. Those are gone, those are in the record books. We have players who have been selected to the International Softball Hall of Fame based on their performance at the international level because we lived in a different era.”

While the Belize Softball Federation cannot turn back the hands of time it has methodically prepared today’s national team players with the discipline and skills needed to be ranked among the best.

Patrick Henry,
“Softball in its heydays, females played only softball. Now they are playing football, they are playing basketball, they are playing volleyball, and they are into track. So we are competing for a small portion of the population and we know we are competing against television, we are competing against clubs, we know we are competing against other disciplines. And the product of what we have put together today is those players that have committed themselves to this program. We have had to talk more than one on one level with the players, we have had to call on them as a group, as a team and have discussions on things that would not have been normal part of the practice session back in the 70s and 80s.”

To make it on the national team these women who include single mothers had to attend eighty percent of practice time and even live for a period of time with their team mates.

Patrick Henry,
“Everybody comes to the national team with a clean slate. We are living in a new era, the game has evolved, it is not static, it is dynamic. So what you did five years ago, what you did last year might not be applicable today and if you do not put in your fair share of work then there is no way you can remain on the national team.”

And sixteen of those top players will now get ready to depart Belize on July thirtieth to compete in the qualifying match in Venezuela from July-thirty first to August ninth. They have been training for the past two years.

Greg Moguel, Head Coach
“We always get to the peak of the tournament and whenever we are supposed to remain there at the peak that is when we fall back so we decided we wanted to do a long term training program which is over a period of two years and so far I think they are ready to compete in this tournament. I am taking this last month to look at our pitching department as strongly as possible because that is 75% of the softball game and once you can afford to keep the pitching within line with any of these countries, our team has always been known as a great defensive team and with that alone then we feel we can execute offensively and so we win some games.”

Carla Humes, Pitcher – Belize National Softball Team
“Well of course I wanted to be a striker and a really good one and that mostly is what goes through my mind.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
So you have to have a good arm.

Carla Humes,
“Yeah, a very good one too.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
How nervous are you going into this game?

Carla Humes,
“Well I am a little nervous but I think I can do it with my team behind me. I know I can do it.”

Lisa Jones, Catcher - Belize National Softball team
“The communication between the pitcher and the catcher has to be good because the catcher will determine where the pitch will be thrown and the catcher is the one to set up the field before the pitch is thrown to the batter. It determines on what type of batter you have and if you know whether or not that batter is a good inside hitter or outside hitter. So the communication between the pitcher and the hitter has to be a very good one.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
How nervous are you going into championship game?

Lisa Jones,
“I am a little nervous. I have been outside before, a little nervous, but Venezuela and the team, I know we have a very good team so I believe that we will be doing very well.”

Sharette Vernon, Short Stop – Belize National Softball Team
“I am really excited and I really want to represent Belize well in this tournament coming and I believe we are ready for it. We worked hard, we practiced real hard, and I think mostly what we need to do is mostly is to, cause we are playing back to back games, so we need to have that kind of stamina to cope with the games but I think we can do it.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
What should we expect from this team?

Martha Rhys, Outfielder – Belize National Softball Team
“Well to win. We’ve been working out and we’ve been working very hard and we hope to do our very very best to make this national team proud and the Softball Federation and the country of Belize.”

The last time Belize participated in the Pan American Championship was in 1982, 1987 and in 1996. Jacqueline Godwin reporting for 7News.

The Belize team leaves the country on July thirtieth for Venezuela. The top seven teams will qualify for the twenty first Central American Games in 2010 in Puerto Rico.