Dream big

Dream big. This was the advice from Brent Sancho, former defender with the national team as he addressed Fourth and Fifth Form students of the Mason Hall Secondary School on Monday.

Sancho and Bajan-born sports broadcaster Alex Jordan are in Tobago for a week-long visit as part of the Division of Sport and Youth Affairs’s Career in Sports Caravan which is intended to provide students and athletes at secondary schools with information on potential careers in the sporting industry.as the THA

“I had a dream and I dreamt big… there is absolutely no reason why you cannot dream big,” Sancho told the students.

“We have this perception in the Caribbean that we feel that because we’re from a small island that we cannot achieve great things; that is not true, you have evidence of that,” Sancho said as he pointed to his representation at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

He noted that he grew up in Laventille, Trinidad but has played football in six different countries including Finland, Scotland and England.

Sancho, now Operations Director of Central Football Club in Trinidad, told the students that the sky was their limit.

“There are three things that has been my motto throughout my career, which is dream it, believe it and achieve it.

“I want each one of you… don’t be afraid to dream big. If you truly believe in your dreams, you can achieve it, but it comes with a sacrifice and it comes with different steps and processes. So, if you want to achieve, if you want to dream and you want to achieve, it starts right here at secondary school.

“Don’t ever think it is too early… I can tell you there is a kid somewhere else in the world dreaming just like you and is willing to put in a little more work than you do to achieve. I want you to truly believe in yourself… you have to work while others are sleeping because what you have to remember is that there are other young people who are aspiring to be a professional just like you and you are competing against them,” he said.

Sancho is also a sports analyst and broadcaster with Sportsmax which covers the Sportsmax Zone, Secondary Schools Football League and all major world football tournaments. Internationally, he has represented Trinidad and Tobago as a footballer over 100 times in all age group levels with the pinnacle being his performance for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.