Consistent Winds and Pristine Beaches Make Roatan a Perfect Destination for Kiteboarders.

For a couple decades, Roatan has been a place for sailors and windsurfers. More recently it has become a place to learn and enjoy kiteboarding.  Located on the path of eastern trade winds Roatán is one of Central America’s top kite boarding locations.

The prevailing eastern winds and the angulated, slightly curved shape of Roatan create great conditions for kitesurfing. Between Punta Gorda and Pigeon Cays, as the island turns completely east west, that is the best place to kiteboard. All-in-all it is Camp Bay Beach that is the ideal overall place for kiters practicing surfboard, twin tip or hydrofoil. Camp Bay’s long, two-kilometer beach has side or side on shore wind conditions and is sheltered by the reef a couple hundred meters to the north. 

Roatan offers many months of solid wind throughout the year. The dry months of May thru August offer great, strong predictable easterly winds. January thru May are not bad wind months either. ‘That’s the big advantage of Roatán. Eight great months to learn and progress.” says Chris Bergler, the owner of Kitesurf Roatan, Kiteboarding School in Camp Bay. The trade winds are an ever present part of the Bay Islands weather and only stop during peak hurricane season in September, and rainy season in October & November.

Pigeon Cay is another great kitesurfing spot for more advanced kiteboarders. While the two cays are slowly disappearing, the left-over and bar is surrounded by turquoise blue water and plenty of wind. 

The kiteboarders also go to Saint Helene harbor for their kite sessions. “The spot needs to be handled sensitively because of its fragile shallow water ecosystem,” says Chris. “This spot is the best in the morning, with super steady winds coming from ESE and butter flat water.”

There are also a few less known kite-spots in the region like Ometepe and Corn Islands in Nicaragua, and San Andres in Colombia. There is also Rio Dulce in Guatemala and various cays along the Belizean coast that offer nice kiteboarding conditions. These are small destinations that haven’t developed yet to accommodate a growing sport like kiteboarding.

While not inexpensive, kiteboarding is less expensive, and more convenient than other sailing sports. It uses the wind energy from a kite at a much larger atmosphere volume than a sail.

Kiteboarding is the least extreme of the extreme sports. “It [kiting] has a steep learning curve, though a few days are required to ride independently,” says Chris, who taught children as young as 10 and clients as old as 75. As the sport rewards riders with finesse and good technique, it is attracting a good share of female athletes.

Roatan offers many months of solid wind.

While athletic abilities are not a prerequisite in learning how to kiteboard, deep pockets often are. “Kite gear, lessons and traveling is expensive, so a solid financial background is needed to afford getting into the sport,” says Chris. The typical kiteboarder is between 30 and 60 years old.

Most kiteboarders will have a quiver of two to three kites allowing them to surf in a variety of wind conditions. While kiteboarders can have fun at anywhere between 12 and 35 knots, the sweet spot for kiteboarders is 20 knots. “Most of the time I ride an 11-meter hybrid kite while Marilou prefers small freestyle kites,” says Chris. Chris’ wife Marilou Lavallée, is still sponsored by Core Kiteboarding so the brand is being used at the Camp Bay school. With many kiteboarding kites being manufactured in Germany, Core is an expensive option as far as kite gear.

While often-urban millennial launch into the sport quickly, many older kiteboarders started their experience on the water with sailing, windsurfing or wakeboarding. As they progress in their skills, for many the sport becomes more like an addiction. For them, kiteboarding is not just a sport, it’s a way of life, living in nature, harnessing nature elements and being in harmony with them. “Very often my students were in some sort of transition in their lives when they decided to learn how to Kitesurf and often it becomes a life changing decision,” says Chris.

Chris and Marilou found Roatan while looking over a Yoga magazine. It was 2012, and someone was advertising a yoga retreat on Rio Cangrejal, outside of La Ceiba. The timing was good as Chris was ending his work at a kite school in Punta Chame, Panama. In order to visit the resort Marilou was flying into Roatan as the island was a convenient entry point. “I’ve never ever heard about Roatan. One of my Panamanian friends had visited it and he said it’s stunningly beautiful,” said Chris.

At first, they couldn’t find any information about kiteboarding conditions on the island. Chris scanned the internet and determined that the trade winds blew on the island most of the year. The couple decided to give it a look. “We were set to discover Roatan’s kite potential. Marilou booked her ticket and I hopped on the TICA bus from Panama to La Ceiba,” remembered Chris. Thus, the couples Roatan adventure began.

Once they set their feet on the island, a Garifuna taxi driver took them straight to the island’s east end. “We booked a room at Marble Hill Farm, as we found out that “Brian, the manager was a kiteboarder,” remembers Chris. “He used to kite but wasn’t anymore as enthusiastic about it.”

Chris and Marilou found Camp Bay and almost instantly jumped in to test the wind. “This kite session, it was just magic. Blue sky, blue water, great wind, beautiful waves on the reef, outside huge ocean rollers which we shared with a pod of jumping pilot whales,” remembers Chris.

The couple took a rest at Wilks Point under an Almond Tree. “How it can be that a beach as beautiful could be still so deserted,” Chris asked Marilou, looking around the deserted two-kilometer Camp Bay beach. The only people they saw were a few passing fishermen in their dories.

“Mike,” the owner of Camp Bay lodge was eager to sell, but Chris was cautious. It was a big decision and something not to be taken lightly, or on a whim. “I bought a Salva Vida that day… that’s about it,” remembers Chris. After a couple more days the couple grew increasingly enchanted with the place, its people and their hospitality.

Chris’ journey to Roatan had many twists and turns. He grew up in a little Bavarian village in the south of Germany and was an amateur sportsman in track and field, and in football. Chris graduated with a physical education degree and had a life lined up for him. ‘I had the choice to work in a school in Munich but I choose to pack my bags.” says Chris. ‘I wasn’t happy with my life back then so it was an easy choice and I quickly booked a one way ticket to the Canary Islands to teach kids swimming.’

The History of Kite Sailing
It all started when George Pocock used kites of increased size to propel carts on land and ships on the water. Pocock used a four-line control system, not much different from what is used in kiteboarding today. His kite powered boats were able to turn and even sail upwind. The kites could be flown for hours on end and the idea was kiting as an alternative source of power.
Another kiteboarding predecessor was Samuel Cody, who in 1903 built “Man lifting kites” and crossed the English Channel on a canvas boat powered by a kite.
In 1977 Durchman Gijsbertus Panhuise, the inventor of kitesurfing, received the first patent for Kitesurfing. The invention described a person standing on a floating board and being pulled by a wind catching contraption like a parachute. The pilot had the kite tied to a harness on a trapeze type belt.
It took the sport another twenty years to hit it big, but when it did, it mesmerized fans and athletes across the world. ‘The real heroes were the pioneers back in the 90s where most of it happened on Maui: Lou Wainman, Pete Cabrinha.” says Chris. ‘The Maui crew already had experimented and pushed the limits.’ Today the kiteboarding equipment is safer, more durable and accidents are infrequent.

He had experience running swimming schools in different hotels and befriended an owner of a kite school in Fuerteventura. Chris soon learned how to kite, and began working at the kite school. ‘I was standing in a big lagoon and starting my best life.” says Chris. For several years Chris was a journeyman kiteboarder. He worked in Egypt, Panama, South Africa, Dominican Republic and Brazil.

He was always looking for a place to make his own mark, to put down roots. That place turned out to be Roatan. ‘You can’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, leave everything behind especially if you are not happy.” says Chris. ‘There is a journey ahead and why not flying through instead.’

The transition was a bit trickier for Marilou who was still competing as a kiteboarder all over the world. ‘Marilou is my absolute hero and I chased her around the world for many years as a diehard fan. She finally fell in love with me.” says Chris. Before suffering injuries Marilou, originally from Gatineau, Quebec, was one of the top freestyle riders in the world. ‘Marilou could combine hardcore tricks with a beautiful smile and great looks.’

The couple went back to Camp Bay in January 2013 and began teaching kiteboarding there. “Everything just fell in place and step by step we were able to live our dream,” says Chris.

Their first local kiter was Olwen, a local youth who was always there, determined to learn how to stand on the board, go upwind and jump. His lack of swimming skills didn’t hold Olwen back. “His curiosity and will to learn something new made him overcome the fear,” remembers Chris.
The path to the kiteboarding career Chris envisioned for the local youth was the following: start them off as a beach boy, progress to rescue driver, learn how to kite, be a kite assistant, then a kite instructor, hopefully head instructor and maybe one day become a sponsored international pro-rider. “We started to hire kids as much as we could, always with the goal to get them hooked,” says Chris.

Kiteboarding is not just a sport.

In 2015 Elloncito was the first to climb the tricky Camp Bay kiteboarding ladder. From Elloncito he became Ellon and earned his respect with hard work and athletic abilities. Four years into his life as a kiteboarder, Ellon, 21, is the head instructor at the school and Chris’s right hand man “I can fully rely and trust” says Chris.

While many of the school’s instructors hail from Europe and the Americas, the heavy lifting: the day -to-day teaching is done by a team of Roatanians. ‘Local crew has been always our backbone and has become our island family: Ellon from (Camp Bay), Junior & Jordan (Helene), and Jardale (Camp Bay).” says Chris

Ellon has not only become Chris’ right hand, but the head instructor and ‘chief rocker.’ To be closer to work and do more kiteboarding Ellon moved back from Pandy Town to Camp Bay in 2015. ‘I knew he could be very good at it. He had the perfect frame and athletic to become an elite kiteboarder.” remembers Chris, who stopped by Ellon’s grandmother to ask if he was up for the task. ‘It was a pretty short and typical island conversation. Chilling… Sure… Ok cool.” said Chris.

‘Leave everything behind especially if you are not happy.’

Ellon first started as a beach boy tasked with driving the rescue boat, packing kites, helping guests landing and launching. Ellon picked up kiting quickly and by the end of the year he did his first jumps. “First jump was a perfect. Powerful takes off… Boom. You could finally see he got special talents,” said Chris.
Ellon wasn’t just a natural athlete; he was also a good teacher. “He’s been teaching most of the lessons and adding new tricks. Currently he is in training to become the school manager.” says Chris. “I hope he inspires a few other fellow islanders especially the next generation.”

Chris has seen a lot of raw kiteboarding talent among the island’s youth. “They speak two languages, but what most impressed me was their problem-solving capabilities and creativity,” says Chris. His secret of how to develop skills among the locals is giving them opportunity to constantly progress in their skills, responsibility and helps them to grow. “I give them full access to our kite gear, I’ve passed on all my tips and tricks whenever possible, since they are keen observers, they learned most of it simply by watching us doing our thing,” says Chris. ‘One day we will see them riding on international competitions and represent Honduras at the Olympic Games.” predicts Chris.

Kiteboarding in Camp Bay doesn’t just bring a few hundred kiteboarders to the East of the Island. Chris and Marilou also wanted to start up a local kite community. They looked for island kids keen to learn kite boarding and even ready to make it their living. “It took a little longer than I expected to light the fire but finally we have a bunch of vivid kiters with unlimited potential.”

Over the last several years the couple has taught a group of kiters from Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. “Often they would send me pictures when they were exploring spots on the coast between Tela and Trujillo or in the Gulf of Fonseca,” says Chris. The kiting community is growing in Honduras.

There are also several other good kiters in the Bay Islands. There is a French kiter who lives and kites often in Utila. Guanaja was a place where an Italian had a kiteboarding school, but several years ago the Italian relocated back home. “He had done a great job over there, but left a few years ago to live with his young family back home,” says Chris.

After six years with Chris, the kiteboarding community has slowly developed on the island. A few people from West End and several retired expats took kiteboarding classes. “It’s a slowly growing tribe but we are getting there,” says Chris. Awareness of how precious Camp Bay, Roatan’s arguably most beautiful beach really is, has grown with it as well.

As the island’s center of gravity moves further east, Camp Bay will most likely become more and more visited. The paving of the main road is being planned and cruise ships are scheduled to begin visiting the nearby Port Royal in October 2019.

No doubt, development will bring the quickening of the pace of life on Roatan’s east end. Several eco resort owners near Camp Bay, like it just the way it is: unspoiled not easy to get to and quiet.

‘We were set to discovered Roatan’s kite potential.’

Also Chris is concerned that the quiet, and not so easy to access Far East end of Roatan will turn into a nightmare, just like many other surfing and kiteboarding destinations in third worlds did before. “Surfers discovered little fishing villages which turn into tourist hubs, leave the local community’s behind and create a split society with crime, prostitution and drugs” says Chris. Meantime however, the flying kites off Camp Bay signal that the east of the island is still all about nature, wind and harmony.

The Island Provides Honduran Team’s Core Players

In 2013 Harper, who learned how to play rugby at school, thought it would be a good thing to introduce his electrical business employees and Roatan Electric Company employees to the game. “Rugby teaches you discipline, courage and teamwork,” said Harper who thought the sport might appeal to the macho ethics in Honduras and he was right. Roatanians and Hondurans answered the call to Rugby in droves. So much so that today 40 percent of the Honduras’ national team comes from Roatan. “It’s the most successful team in Honduras rugby. We are unbeaten in fifteens, we only lost one game in sevens,” said Harper about his Roatan Pirates team.

In 2013 two teams were formed: the Roatan Pirates and a team in La Esperanza put together by Jason Turner, a Canadian expat. The rugby team in Tegucigalpa came together in 2016 and teams were formed in San Pedro Sula and in La Ceiba. All-in-all, there are now six amateur rugby teams in Honduras.

The Roatan Pirates practice once-a-week at the Kix sports facility and 50-60 men and women show up to practice. A lot of the rugby training is focused on building stamina and weight training. The island athletes practice for both quick and regular forms of the game. Rugby Sevens is a quick, high energy form of the sport in which seven player teams play seven minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40 minute halves.

Taking the Roatan rugby team to a tournament game is a pricy affair. It costs at least Lps. 40,000 every time a team goes to the mainland to play. Honduras needs to maintain a certain number of players, and must play a minimum number of games to be qualified to join World Rugby, the sport’s organizing body. “It wasn’t ‘til January of 2018 that Honduras was accepted into World Rugby,” said Harper.

Over the last couple years Honduran rugby has grown and developed enough to challenge rugby teams from the Central American division. In September 2018 Honduras played its first international match, in Tegucigalpa, against Panama. “We were winning; we had it in the bag. We were up by 20 points in the first half,” said Harper. “And of course the Honduran psyche like even with the football started getting over confident.” The players were becoming complacent, laughing and joking and they took the foot off the gas, they made some mistakes, they panicked. Honduras ended up losing in the first international match to Panama. “It’s disappointing because we were winning and we were better than them,” said Harper.

Then the national team travelled to San Salvador to face their other division competitor. “Same thing happened. We were winning the game, but through ill discipline we had three players in ‘sin bin’ for personal fault and the Salvadorians beat the visitors by one point in the last moment. This was a crushing defeat for Hondurans. We were very disappointed because we were outside favorite to win it,” said Harper.

The Pan-American Games and Olympics linger as a prize for Honduran Rugby but Harper is realistic: “We are not at the level to qualify, yet,” said Harper. The top tier America countries that qualify for the world cup are Argentina, Uruguay, United States and Canada. “Central American countries are the last ones to catch up,” said Harper who is the Honduras National Rugby Team coach.

The players are starting to get noticed. One Honduran born player has started for a team in England. William Harper, 29 Matthew’s son, started playing rugby in La Ceiba and played two seasons in Swanage & Wareham RFC Rugby Union club in England’s county league. “He is the first Honduran player to play outside of the country in a rugby club,” said Mathew Harper about his son.

Pandy Town is a Gold Mine of Talented Athletes

At 15 years of age, Quinn was spotted by a recruiter and taken to San Pedro Sula as a third division reserve player. He remained with Real España for two years before moving back to Pandy Town where he received the best advice from then coach, Orlando Lopez. “If you learn to manage your temper, it will make you a better player, if you play angry, anyone can beat you,” said Pinnace. Quinn says that his father has also warned him about his temper and about the importance of “air”. “My father said that ‘if you don’t have air, a child could beat you in soccer’”, so he tries to stay healthy to keep up with his game. There is no doubt that for Quinn, as for most young men in Pandy Town, around the island, and all over Honduras, sports, especially soccer, are a big deal. Participating in sports also helps these young men better control their tempers. Pinnace also plays basketball, a game at which he is very proficient, but confesses that soccer is his first love when it comes to sports.

Besides being born in a town where most everyone plays soccer, Quinn was also born to a family of accomplished soccer players. His father Alexander Pinnace, was once one of the best players in Santos Guardiola, and was also recruited to play with España at one point in his career. He also happens to be the grandson of one of the best goalies who ever played in Pandy Town back in the 70s and 80s. As fate and genes would have it, and despite the limited resources and opportunities available to island players, it was almost impossible for Quinn to not become a great player himself. Currently the center-forward player for the Oak Ridge Strikers, Quinn has also played with the Warriors, a Pandy Town team that was sold and now plays out of Juticalpa, and with the under seventeen national team when it was required.

“When you talk about high level players, you have many including Quinn Pinnace”, says Luis Alvarado, one of Quinn’s first coaches. “Pandy Town is a mine of talented players that you will not find in any other part of Honduras, but they have the tendency to ignore the rules.”

Quinn understands that following one’s dream and being up there with the best takes preparation, commitment, and sacrifice. “Love, dedication, and passion for the game makes a good player” says the young man from Pandy Town who still has hopes of making his dreams of playing in a major league a reality.

A competitor surfaces next to the freediving platform.

Breath Hold Divers Break Records off West Bay

Roatan has quickly become one of the top five places in the world to hold a freediving competition. It has consistent 30-40 meter visibility, it is protected from wind, it has low currents, depth drop offs to hundreds of meters less than one kilometer from the beach, it has easy access to emergency vehicles and a clinic is just a couple hundred meters from the beach. It’s also one of the very few places where spectators are allowed to watch the competition from the water or glass bottom boat.

Free divers competed in three categories: constant weight, constant weight without fins and free immersion. The diving is performed off a freediving platform that lowers a guide line to which dive markers are attached and a depth sensor informs the judges if and when a marker has been picked up. Counter ballast attached to the line could be released and can lift a free diver to the surface in case of emergency.

Walid Boudiaf, a Tunisian free diver attempted a 107 meter free immersion dive. He disappeared under the water for 3 minutes and 45 seconds… and when he surfaced, he looked around, but wouldn’t take his breath. “Breathe, breathe!,” shouted his coach. It took 8-10 seconds before Boudiaf took his first breath. “It’s not that you don’t want to breathe, it’s Hypoxia,” explained Alessandro Manzato, a Roatan-based Italian competitor. The next day Boudiaf broke his country’s national record diving to 111 meters in constant weight category.

You call this samba. Your body starts to shake and you sometime pass out

Spain’s Miguel Lozano, 39, attempted to break the world record of 125 meters, but passed out on his way up, 29 meters below the surface. The safety crew helped him onto a platform, but it took Lozano almost three minutes to regain consciousness. Lozano has supported himself with sponsorships, classes, teaching and competitions for a decade.

Several times during competition at 40 meters the current would slow free divers down. “The current really destroys you,” said Manzato. Four safety divers watched over the ascending competitors. “The last 10 meters are the hardest,” said Manzato.

In 2017 Roatan’s Caribbean Cup had World Cup status and attracted over 80 free divers. “They were pushing themselves to the max, the guys were going balls out. Almost half were passing out,” said Alex St Jean, the official photographer of the vent.

Some divers, deprived of oxygen for several minutes, begin shaking and lose ability to control their movements. “You call this samba. Your body starts to shake and you sometime pass out,” said Lucas Bulssau, 19, from France who has been freediving for eight month on Utila and has volunteered as an assistant during the Caribbean Cup.

Esteban Darhampe, organizer of the event, wants to bring back the World Cup status to the Roatan event in 2019 and move it to July-August.Two world record attempts ended up in disqualifications “but just the feeling of having them attempted on the island is great,” said St Jean.

Nathaniel Leazer from USA and Sheena McNally from Canada became this year’s champions summing up most meters in all three freediving categories. Twenty-five national records were registered by AIDA and two world records were attempted.

Island Team Brings Hope and Glory to the Island

Honduras’ national football team has made great strides since its first international match in 1921 when it lost 10-1 to Guatemala. The “Catrachos” qualified three times for the FIFA World Cup: in 1982, 2010 and 2014. Football is a serious business here, so much so that in 1969 a football match between Honduras and El Salvador sparked riots that fueled existing tensions and ended up in a full blown war. That was almost half a century ago and now times have changed.

Central American football has made great strides in recent years and Costa Rica and Honduras have the best teams in the region. Honduras is ranked 63rd in FIFA world rankings.

Roatan has had a presence in these Honduran successes. In all three games that the Catrachos played in the South Africa World Cup in 2010, Georgie Welcome, a Roatan born striker, played a leading role. Welcome began his career at Arsenal, Roatan’s first division team.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Arsenal Football Team was started by Russell Borden, Darcie Martinez and Jay Hynds in 1997. “We were looking for a name and Russell came up with Arsenal, and since it was a popular team back then, it just stayed that way,” says Leyland Woods, the team’s first coach. Arsenal’s roots are in French Cay where they practiced on a sandy patch of land bordered by mangroves. “That was our home field, this is where we trained,” says Leyland Woods who is now the owner of the team.

At first the team played other Honduran non-federated teams. Arsenal beat other island teams to go to a tournament in Santa Barbara and then the islanders got a rude awakening: the Honduran rules football are determined by who you know and where you play. “Our opponents were late one hour to the game, which mean we won. They convinced us to play anyway and challenge this later. But when we did and lost, they said we couldn’t challenge,” says Woods.

This is how legends get made: the Santa Barbara team arrived cramped and tired

Arsenal was about to enter the dragon’s den of Honduran football. “On a rainy day in 1999 in Las Colinas we decided to federate the team,” Woods says, recalling that fateful day.

At first the owners tried to buy a second division team and move it to Roatan, but that involved permission from Honduras Football Federations and plenty of red tape. “So we just decided to federate in third division and move up to second,” says Woods. That took four years.

It was 2003 and Arsenal ended up playing against a Santa Barbara team in the finals to ascend into the second division. After tying 0:0 at home, the Santa Barbara team lost the second game 1:0 in Los Fuertes, but then challenged the result saying that the Los Fuertes field didn’t fulfill the minimum size standards. The Honduran Football Federation sided with Santa Barbara and ruled for the final game to be replayed at a neutral venue. When Arsenal got to pick that neutral field and they picked Trujillo, at sea level and about a 10 hours drive by bus from Santa Barbara. “I told them: ’you’re lucky there isn’t an accredited regulation field in Gracias a Dios, or that is where you would be playing’,” said Woods.

This is how legends get made. The Santa Barbara team arrived cramped and tired, not ready for the next morning’s match in hot Trujillo. Arsenal chartered a boat that took them directly from French Harbour to the Trujillo dock in less than two hours on a comfortable journey. Arsenal dominated the game and won 1:0. “Everyone [in Honduras] knew about this. We were famous before we even made it to second division,” said Woods.

In 2007 Arsenal almost made the impossible happen. They made it into the finals and challenged Deportes Savio to a two-game playoff for a spot in the Honduran first division. After losing 1:0 away the second game was played to a full stadium in Coxen Hole. The field was originally a privately owned baseball field surrounded by a temporary corrugated zinc fence: typical island ingenuity and improvisational style.

The entire island held their breath as Arsenal came within one goal of beating Deportes Savio and making it to the big leagues. “But we just couldn’t do it. We had no stadium that would qualify for first division. Perhaps the loss turned out for the best,” says Woods. A decade ago Arsenal, Roatan, and its owner just weren’t ready for the Honduran premiere league. There wasn’t enough money, not enough fans, not enough infrastructure to handle the success. “We would have to play in Tela or La Ceiba and the traveling costs would kill us,” says Woods.

HOME STADIUM

Now two of eight teams in Honduras’ northern second division are based on Roatan. There are two fields qualified for division two play: the Coxen Hole stadium and the field at Lucy Point in Oak Ridge.

The Coxen Hole field, where Arsenal trains and plays every other week, slopes a drastic 36” from north to south giving a clear advantage to a team playing on the north side. “When we flip the coin we always try to lose so we could choose to play the second half down hill and with the wind behind our shoulders,” says Woods.

Woods envisions a Coxen Hole stadium for 1,500 fans, changing rooms for both teams, referees, and lights permitting games to be played on Saturday evenings – a prime time for attracting fans. Woods wants entire families to watch Arsenal play and enjoy music and meals after the game. “It wouldn’t interfere with church, beach, family,” says Woods.

They made it into the finals and challenged Deportes Savio to a two-game playoff

While the big obstacle in achieving this dream is cost, others share Woods’ vision. According to Woods, congressman Ron McNab has been promised Lps. 4 million from the central government to improve the stadium in Coxen Hole. Jerry Hynds, the new mayor of Roatan, is a football fan and promised support in improving football infrastructure on the western side of the island. “Once the stadium is there then the first division is an open door,” says Paul Jeffries, advisor to the team and owner.

The key elements in keeping Arsenal running in the black are sponsors and ticket sales. The ticket prices to the game are a flat 50 Lempiras. “We started with 100 Lps. but we had to go backwards,” says Woods. Around 400-500 people come to each Roatan game, but according to Woods the team would need regular attendance of 1,000 to make Arsenal a profitable team.

Sol Gas, Serranos, Island Shipping, Galaxy, and Madeyso are the Arsenal sponsors and have their logos displayed on team’s shirts. Half of the additional cost is covered by Woods out of pocket, mainly from his Tropical AC cooling company. “If we got the acknowledgment we wouldn’t have enough space on the shirts for other sponsors,” says Woods.

The biggest expense are travel and referee salaries: Lps. 15,000. “We try to have three local referees at our games to reduce that and just have a main referee from the coast,” says Woods. Arsenal is considered a consistent upper tier team in Honduran second division.

The salaries are a bit higher and the opportunities to get noticed and picked up by division one teams are greater. “We tell our players: ‘You gonna get your shoes, but it’s all about sacrifice and dedication if you’d like to be a professional player. You gonna sacrifice you body, time, money to be a professional,’” says Woods.

You gonna sacrifice you body, time, money to be a professional

The higher salaries paid by Arsenal are noticed by mainland players. “That brings a bit of resentment from other division two teams,” says Jeffries. The controversy and a bit of resentment mobilizes fans. “We fill the stadium when we come to play on the mainland,” says Woods. Still “They [mainland teams] are still complaining about the expense of traveling and playing on Roatan.”

While Arsenals motto is “one island, one team, one love,” with the majority of Roatan residents being born on the mainland, locals fans often end up cheering for the visiting team. Things get especially rowdy when Roatan plays a home game against Social Sol of Olanchito – place of origin of many new Roatanians. “Sometimes our fans are outnumbered by theirs,” says Woods.

TOUGH ISLAND PLAYERS

While a few Roatan-born players are branded for lack of discipline they are also known for being tough and quick. “Island guys don’t get hurt. They don’t need a masseuse after the game, you don’t need to be injecting them,” says Woods.

Some of the most talented island players come from Santa Helena and Pandy Town. “In Santa Helena there is nothing to do, so guys just focus on football,” says Jeffries. “They are tall, physically strong, they are tough people. They work hard and play hard,” says about Santa Helena players Woods. Already Roatan and Arsenal have produced several great football players. Georgie Welcome, a striker originally from Coxen Hole, played with Arsenal from 2004 to 2008. Welcome represented Honduras many times and played for the country in World Cup in 2010. He even played a season at FC Monaco. Georgie started in the national Honduran selection while playing with Arsenal – a second division team, a first in Honduras’ football history.

Several other Arsenal players made a name for themselves on a national and international stage. Edrick Johnson from West End is now a back up goalie for Olimpia. Shannon Welcome, a forward form French Harbour, plays for a second division team in Greece. Kenzi Abbot from French Harbour played for a first division Tocoa.

The 2007-08 were the glory days for Arsenal with Georgie Welcome, Shannon and Jose Anthony

The 2007-08 seasons were the glory days for Arsenal with Georgie Welcome, Shannon and Jose Anthony all playing together. “We haven’t recuperated this caliber of players,” says Woods. Arsenal also started Jose Anthony ‘El Caballo’ Torres who has played a record number of times in the national selection of Panama. Yet keeping good players, especially good strikers, is a difficult task for Arsenal as for any division two team. “Every time we get a good player they buy him out,” says Woods.

Coach Pasquale Mendez RIP developed the core of Arsenal players between 2003 and 2009. The current coach is Hernan Contreras was an Arsenal player and a manager before stepping into coaches’ shoes.

Arsenal’s strongest lines are defense and mid field. They are usually lacking in strength of forwards and goalies with the best players scooped up by division one teams. “We are a pretty young team,” says Woods. The 30 Arsenal players on the roster average 22 years of age so the future looks promising.

Many changes in island and Honduran football lie ahead. FIFA is pressuring teams for significant changes. This will likely result is the first division going from ten to 12 teams and the second division teams dropping from in number from 28 to 18 or 20. Next season the second division players will be considered professional, not semi-professional as they have been up to this point. Arsenal will be required to sponsor a women’s team.

There are now two division three leagues on the island: eight teams play in Roatan Municipality and seven in Santos Guardiola Municipality. There are six fields certified for division tree play on Roatan: Sandy Bay, Coxen Hole, Los Fuertes, Punta Gorda, Diamond Rock and Lucy Point.

In 2017 Arsenal was joined by Dortmund Los Fuertes in division two. Dortmund is owned by Ray Mayorquin who founded the team in February 2011. With two strong division two island teams the future for Roatan football looks bright.