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 is done to ensure that the facility for the sporting event is ready and meets all the requirements by 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, I am preparing to travel to Milan 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 Milan to have an understanding of their business 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.