Iris Centeno becomes first Belizean woman to earn CONCACAF “C” Football Coaching License

Published by BBN Staff at March 3, 2021

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Posted: Wednesday, March 3, 2021. 5:34 pm CST.

By Ruben Morales Iglesias: Iris Centeno, National Women’s Football Director at the Football Federation of Belize (FFB), is the first Belizean woman to earn the CONCACAF “C” Football Coaching License.

“The Football Federation of Belize takes this opportunity to congratulate Ms. Iris Centeno for being the first woman in Belize to earn a Concacaf “C” License,” the FFB said in a press release today.

According to the FFB, Centeno’s love for football started when she was a very young girl playing the sport with her dad and her four brothers in Maypen in South Stann Creek. She played the sport in primary school and then at Georgetown High School.

She then moved up to the National Football Tournament level playing with the Delille Pumas. Next came international experience as she was recruited by Peten Itza from Guatemala. That gained her enough experience leading up to a call by the Belize National Women’s Team.

In 2013, she won the National Championship with the Triple B’s claiming the best midfielder award.

In 2016, she played for the Lightning Strikers and in 2017 she joined Jewel Fury and though they lost the championship match, Centeno was named the Finals’ MVP.

She then returned to Maypen and formed her own squad, the Rumberas, but had to retire from active football after a career-ending knee injury.

FFB National Technical Director, Mexican Renan Couoh, saw talent in her and in 2016 introduced her to coaching. And as they say, the rest is history.

The FFB says Centeno first coached the Mid-South U-15 girls selection winning the National Districts Championship. In 2017, she was named National Assistant Coach for the U-18 Women’s National Team representing Belize in a Central American tournament in Nicaragua. In 2018, she was assistant coach of the National U-15 Girls Team that took part in a Concacaf Championship in Florida, and in 2019, she was assistant coach of the U-17 National Team which advanced undefeated to the second round of the U-17 World Cup qualifiers.

The FFB named her National Director of Women’s Football during which time she has earned her Concacaf “D” and “C” football coaching licenses.

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