There are some players who never look back, even if they failed to fulfil their ambitions as a professional footballer. Some fall to the wayside while others find other means of progressing. Former national senior team midfielder, Brent Rahim is turning out to be one who is aspiring to higher heights in the game but from off the field. Rahim is pursuing the Fifa Masters in Humanities, Management and Law of Sport and is currently based at the De Monfort University in Leicester, England which specialises in the humanities of sport.
One of the two reserve players of the 2006 T&T squad which played at the Germany World Cup Finals, Rahim revealed that Fifa Vice President Jack Warner was influential in getting him accepted as one of the Fifa Masters students. So far at De Monfort, Rahim and his colleagues have been focusing on the history of sport, the development of Fifa, IOC, rugby and football, just to name a few. In addition to having over 50 guest speakers who hold leading positions in the sporting world, the CIES, which is the University responsible for the Fifa Master, has also seen it to be beneficial to have site visits to major sporting facilities as part of a more practical learning experience.
Rahim has made visits to Wimbledon, the home venues of Manchester United and Manchester City, Lord's Cricket Ground and Twickenham.
This is because, as sport administrators, it is necessary to understand the work that isdone to ensure that the facility for the sporting event is ready and meets all the requirementsby the organising committee. As a result, some of the field trips included Wimbledon, Twickenham, Manchester City, Manchester United, Lord's Cricket Ground and Bolton Football Club.
"Apart from that, Iam preparing to travel toMilan where I will start the Management part of the programme at SDA Bocconi, which is one of the best business schools in Europe. "Furthermore, as part of our practical study,I will be visiting Ferrari, Inter Milan and AC Milanto have an understanding oftheirbusiness model and hopeful apply some of these concepts to sporting organisations that I will be working for in the future," Rahim added. In March, Rahim will travel to Switzerland to focus on the legal aspects of sport at the CIES and he will visit the Fifa House in Zurich, the International Olympic Committee and UEFA offices.
He will then have a have a project presentation in front of leading sporting officials with four other colleagues in June on the topic "How can an effective compensation plan regarding players' injuries strengthen relationships between European football clubs and national teams." Rahim described the experience as difficult but extremely exciting and educating. "I'm no longer playing professionally, but I've found myself in an area where I can still contribute and continue to develop myself," Rahim said. "My intention is to help T&T progress in the sporting world through whatever services or assistance I can offer," Rahim concluded.
Rahim is a former member of West Ham United, Northampton Town and Levski Sofia of Bulgaria. He also played at and graduated from the University of Connecticut. He made his debut for T&T in an international friendly against Canada in January 2000 and played in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup qualifying campaigns.
Scotland happy with three points despite snow field
Former England manager, Sven Eriksson was furious that Saturday's match between Ipswich Town and Leicester City was allowed to finish despite the horrendous field conditions caused by heavy snowfall.
But Jason Scotland was counting three points for Ipswich as he double paced them to a much needed victory. Scotland also pushed his season tally to seven, the most by an Ipswich player. "I once played in snow for Swansea, but you could see some grass then," said Scotland. "When the referee took us off I did not expect to return with heavy snow coming down. Conditions were horrendous although okay under foot, but three points are three points and that was our aim."
Carlos Edwards also came on late to see off the 3–0 win which pushed them to 27 points in 17th spot, one behind Leicester. He added that manager Roy Keane is under pressure to take Ipswich up the table.
"He knows it of course and we all do," added the ex-Defence Force man. "He's in a results business so is no different from anybody else with managers recently been given the sack when they are winning games. We all live and die by results."
U-17 women's player gets Canadian praise
Diarra Simmons, one of this country's goalscorers in the 2–1 victory over Chile in the opening match of the Fifa Under-17 Women's World Cup in September is coming off a phenomenal season for Pickering Power Green Under-16 team in Canada. Canadian-born Simmons helped the team win the league, provincial and national championships. Pickering Power coach Paul Deabreu had high praise for the young striker.
"She is very tough and tenacious and seems to be in the right place at the right time. She scored very important and clutch goals for us this year and especially at nationals." Despite a jam-packed resume full of accomplishments, Simmons still feels like she has much more to improve on. "My main goal is to obtain a soccer scholarship and play at university. Then, hopefully, go on to play for the T&T women's national team or even Canada," she told reporters. Kansas target three players from Trinidad trip
American Major League Soccer team, Sporting Kansas City scouted a number of interesting roster options on their recent trip to T&T. However, head coach Peter Vermes has said no decision is likely be made on the three players the club identified as potential targets until the pre-season next year. The club explained it was doing what is often standard operating procedure with relatively unknown players. Vermes, who was part of USA's 1990 World Cup squad, added that he hoped to bring in all three during the club's second pre-season phase in Arizona to see if they meshed with the rest of the roster and the level of play.
"Traditionally, it's pretty easy at that point to see if that guy is going to fit in with our team," Vermes said. "We have high hopes that these guys would join our roster." Kansas held their sessions in collaboration with 1st Santa Rosa FC. Meantime, US-based forward Robbie Findley who once trained with the T&T U-23 team and was eligible to play for T&T, is reportedly set to sign a deal with English side Nottingham Forest. And Columbus Crew technical director Brian Bliss, another ex-USA player, confirmed that the club had an interest in Stern John who completed his rehab there over the last few months but added that it was tough to say if the club would sign the player so soon after coming off an injury.
Shaun Fuentes is the
press officer for T&TFF/Soca Warriors.