For the love of the game. That’s what drives 23-year-old Kareem Smith to give his all on the football field. “It’s simply my passion,” he says.
The Boston, Massachusetts native took me on a journey as he remembered his early football years.
“I was eight when I got chosen for the Under 10 team at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist Academy in Boston.
“At 14, I went on to the John D O’Bryant High School and played there also. After one year, I transferred to the Beaver Country Day High School where I made the All-Star Team for three consecutive years.”
“I also played for the Under 14 and Under 18 US national teams.”
A focused and physically fit Smith, described as a strong and powerful defender, was certainly an asset to his team. He helped lead his club team—the South Shore United Blazers, to a U-15 Region I title and three Massachusetts state championships at each of the U-16-through-U-18 levels.
Talent and brains
Born to a Trinidadian father and a Jamaican mother, Smith learnt early on that while sport is important, education is indeed the key to success.
So determined is this South Florida University (USF) student to complete his Criminology degree, that he’s currently taking time out of his busy football schedule to take on-line courses.
“I left school one semester early to play a while in Europe. Now I’m trying to complete my final semester by doing my courses on-line,” he shares. “That’s very important to me.”
Determination
The six-foot footballer is no stranger to success having played in all 21 games for USF, anchoring the back line and notching his first point of the season during USF’s 4-1 win over West Virginia in the Big East Quarterfinals in 2005.
Despite his noted accomplishments, however, the dread-locked defender is also no stranger to disappointment.
“I didn’t make it the first time I tried out for the national senior team in January,” he says.
Not one to settle for mediocrity, Smith pressed on.
His hard work bore fruit three months later, when he made his debut for the T&T national football team against Guyana at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Center of Excellence, Macoya, in April, in which the Soca Warriors emerged victorious.
Although Smith is a bit disappointed he did not play for the team’s last three qualifying matches, he says his time will come.
Trini to the bone
The United Petrotrin player says he loves life in “Trini.”
“Trinidad is a really nice place. There is always something to do.”
So what does the Arima resident like best about the island?
“I love the beaches,” and...yes you guessed it...the girls! “The girls are also very nice,” he says with a laugh.
“I prefer Trinidadian girls. Even though I’m American I’m accustomed to the Caribbean culture, so we have the same interests.”
It came as no surprise then when I found out his boo is a “Trini!”
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