🇧🇿 'Why not?' - Ada Cordova is breaking barriers by coaching the boys in Belize
The 24-year-old, who leads the San Pedro Pirates in the first division, wants to push soccer on the island past its previous limits.
When she gets stopped around town and asked about her decision to hire Ada Cordova, a 24-year-old woman, to be the head coach of the San Pedro Pirates men’s team, club president Karol Maldonado-Claros always has an answer ready.
“Why not?”
“Every time people come and tell us, ‘Why’d you get her? She has no experience!’ I’d say, ‘Explain why not!” Maldonado-Claros said in an interview. “Isn’t she the most prepared coach - not male or female - but isn’t she in general the most prepared coach on the island? Their answer is yes.”
And so it appears. Cordova last week earned her Concacaf B license, and steering the Pirates’ ship, coaching semi-professional men in the Premier League of Belize, the country’s highest level of soccer.
The Pirates have, at times, navigated choppy waters. The team went dark for a stretch 2023 but made a run to the finals in the most recent campaign. Soccer is not big business in any part of Belize. But since they hail from an island that sits just south of Mexico on the Caribbean coast, the Pirates must hire a boat, then buses to get to any away match. Flying also is an option, but even the boat+bus combo costs thousands of dollars for each game. The costs add up.
When it comes to things happening on the field, Cordova said, too many who may have knowledge about the game aren’t currently sharing it. A midfielder with experience on the senior Belize women’s national team, an injury put her focus firmly on coaching. She is now fit and may return to the playing field. Her current focus, though, is on getting results for the Pirates and helping future generations of islanders.
“In Belize, we have a tendency that you go and work for your license and after you receive your license, you don’t do anything with it,” Cordova said. “You don’t coach any youth teams, you don’t help high school teams.
“I want to change that culture we have and actually put the license to work. What greater opportunity than coaching a team from my home, the San Pedro Pirates? It’s amazing.”
While most of her family members were interested in other sports, Cordova always has been in love with soccer. She grew up with the ball at her feet, priding herself on doing it all in the middle of the park but also was curious about how all the pieces worked together. She even had contact with Jonathan Hooper, the Englishman featured in this newsletter in 2020, who pushed to improve coaching education in Belize.
Like the Pirates do for Premier League away games, Cordova must make her way to the mainland for her courses, taking a boat and then catching a bus to Belmopan where the FFB headquarters are located.
The Pirates squad respects the work Cordova has put in, even if, as a 24-year-old woman, she looks different than previous managers they’ve worked with. She says she’s able to command their respect, but also has learned to admit what she doesn’t know as she takes charge of a first-division team.
“I mentioned to my educators, taking the courses made me understand the game a bit more as a player and as a coach,” she said. “When I’m playing I understand my position more, what I need to do when we gain the ball, when we lose the ball, when we’re transitioning. I’ve learned and managed to understand it much more.”
Now she is tasked with transmitting those lessons to the Pirates. And it’s not just tactics Cordova wants to teach. While both she and Maldonado-Claros note the island is isolated from many of the social struggles parts of mainland Belize currently copes with, gang violence is a major issue in the country. Last month, a suspected gang leader was killed in a shooting that took place at a lower-division match in Belize City.
“I’ve always believed I should not only focus on making great players but also great citizens,” Cordova said. “Overall, I want the team to be more united, work as a team. We have different players from different districts in Belize, and every player brings a different playing style, but we want to sing the same song in the Pirates.
“I like to play possession football. We’re trying to play that style, play more possession football and recognize when we can move forward as a team.”
The results so far have been mixed. The Pirates currently sit fourth in the six-team league and dreams of clinching the spot allocated to Belize in the Central American Cup - decided based on aggregate success in the Opening and Closing tournaments - may be slipping away with Port Layola more than 15 points clear.
Yet, Cordova is undeterred and is clear about her belief in the squad.
“I think every coach’s goal is to make the final and win the championship,” she said. “We at least want to make it to the final again. The San Pedro Pirates took a year rest, came back and made it to the finals last season. I want to make that happen again.”
But she’s also thinking much more long-term. The Pirates academy has more than 100 children in it, and with only a handful of kids from the island - male or female - part of the national team setup at senior or youth levels, Cordova hopes to put work into the grassroots and turn the island into a soccer powerhouse.
She has her doubters. She tries to block out the occasional jeers, but at an away match against Verdes she couldn’t help but hear an opposing fan suggest she switch professions.
“I said to myself, I’m not going to listen. This is what I like. I know I’m good at it,” she said. “I just have to work harder, learn more - even from the players I’m learning a lot. They’re older than me and have experienced more things throughout the sport than me.
“On Facebook as well, people are saying, ‘What does a female know about football?’ It hasn’t really affected me because I’m more focused on the positive.”
There are plenty of positives to go around. Beyond the support of Maldonado-Claros, herself a pioneer as the first female club president in Belize, and others on the island, Cordova also has been buoyed by words of encouragement from Belize men’s national team coach Charlie Slusher and others in the soccer community.
“I’ve got to be honest, I don’t have all the experience needed to coach a semi-pro team,” Cordova said. “I’ve only coached youth teams, high school, grassroots. It’s something new for me, but I don’t back down. I’m glad the San Pedro Pirates management believe in me, and the players, as well, are being open to the experience.”
As she keeps working, she hopes there are fewer and fewer who would even think to ask about her credentials and more who will ask, “Why not?” when a new opportunity arises.