Scott gives up goggles for football

AMONG the few people who have represented Trinidad and Tobago in more than one sporting discipline is national senior football team striker, Scott Sealy. Scott will enter his final year at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, USA, where he is pursuing a major in Communication. The son of Annette and Donald Sealy, Scott, 23, is the third of four children. He received his primary school education at Richmond Street Boys RC then went on to Mucurapo Junior Secondary from where he got a transfer to St Mary’s College after completing Form One. The affable Scott admitted: “Football wasn’t (my) first love.” “People don’t know that I used to swim first,” he revealed. “I used to swim for the country while as a member of Blue Dolphins up until I was 15 and then, when I went to St Mary’s I started to watch the first XI (team play) football. I (fell) in love with it and I started to play  Under-16 and everything went from there.”

Scott’s uncle, Edmund Pouchet, is the long-serving head coach for Blue Dolphins, and he (Scott) noted: “I got affiliated to the sport through (him).” But, in an era where at least one sport can be a year-round occupation, something had to give. Scott related a story when both swimming and football clashed, with bitter results. “I was practising with the national Under-17 (football) team and I went on a (CCCAN) swim meet in Mexico. And, (as a result), I wasn’t selected for a trip to Tobago with the U-17s.” Disappointed as he sacrificed the Tobago tour for the swim meet, he decided to give football first preference. “It was like a drive for me to go forward,” he confessed. “I went on to the Under-20s and I was real happy to make it through (all the difficulties), then Under-23s and now senior teams.” One of the leading goal-scorers in the 1998 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), Scott earned selection for the 2001 Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 team for the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, which was staged at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Macoya in March of that year.

The squad, coached by Peter Granville included Daurance Williams, Nigel Daniel, Michael Celestine, Kerry Baptiste, Devon Mitchell and Collin Samuel (who have all progressed to the TT senior team), failed to advance following defeats to Costa Rica (3-0), USA (5-1) and a goalless draw against Guatemala. The USA game ended on a sour note as TT captain Marvin Lee suffered severe neck and spinal injuries after colliding with American striker Landon Donovan; Lee, who was paralysed after the incident, died of pneumonia last year. On the flip side, the tournament proved to be a blessing in disguise for Scott as he received a football scholarship for Wake Forest. “When I was training with the Under-20s, a coach came down to see two players and (co-incidentally) he saw me,” said Scott. “He said he was interested in me and he came back again (for the 2001 competition). He was pleased with what he saw and after that, a letter was sent (from Wake Forest) and that was it.”

How has he coped with life in the USA? “The first year was a bit difficult because I had to get accustomed to the weather, it was a big change. The second year I got adjusted but I got injured so it was hard.” As a freshman, he was the second leading scorer for his team with nine goals, the following year, he struck six times for the squad and the third year, he led the way for his team with 11. In January, he was selected by coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier to the TT Under-23 team for the Olympic Final Round Qualifiers in Mexico the following month. Playing at a high altitude, the squad failed in their mission to qualify for the current Athens Olympics after losses to Mexico (3-1) and Costa Rica (4-0). But Scott and captain Silvio Spann scored for TT during their 2-1 win over Jamaica. Highly rated by his coaches in Wake Forest, as well as Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips, the former national goalkeeper who presently serves as the team’s technical director, the Petit Valley resident was included into the senior team for the CONCACAF Second Round World Cup qualifier (second-leg) against Dominican Republic.

It proved to be a dream debut for Scott on June 20 at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella. After replacing Brent Rahim in the 75th minute, he scored 11 minutes later to give TT a 4-0 win and, has been a regular member since. “It has been a great experience so far and I’ve enjoyed it,” he commented, “I’m working hard, trying to do the right things and, hopefully, I’ll continue to get a chance.” Outside of the football arena, Scott describes himself as a “quiet, reserved family man.” “I don’t really like to go out much, I prefer to be home with my one-year-old son, Dante and girlfriend,” he added. After he graduates from Wake Forest at the end of the year, Scott stressed that he is yet to decide where he plays at club level. “I’m keeping my options open and looking to take any chance; any door which is open, hopefully in the Major League Soccer (MLS) or some league in the US.”