The time has come for accomplished athletes to take a stand on issues relating to the development of a credible plan for sport in T&T, former national footballer Brent Sancho has said.
No longer can stakeholders continue to skirt the topic, he said, and the time to face it is now.
Sancho was speaking in an interview with the Guardian.
He said too many locally born athletes have become international brands of respect and possess star power for sport in T&T to operate in a test tube.
Sancho advanced the view that this country needed a well constituted Sport Academy to ensure that the fraternity's future remains bright, and that the success stories in sport were no longer by accidentally.
He made a call public-private sector arrangement that will treat with the issue of long term financing of such an initiative.
Critical to the project's success, the former national defender said, was the emotional support from families with children whose talent was in the rough; and of course, sustained community and national support.
In his view, well-structured programmes under the banner of the Sport Academy will positively impact the issue of teen delinquency and ultimately scale back the wave of rising crime and other acts of notoriety.
Once the impact of sport goes wider, Sancho said, and the roll-out of better citizens is greater, then this country's quest for first world status can be truly realised.
Sancho has quietly been engaging former national footballers Shaka Hislop who has moved on to become a well-respected television host and commentator on ESPN, as well as Kelvin Jack to be part of a lobby group. Jack is still active in football in the UK.
He said sportsmen such as ambassador Dwight Yorke, whose stamped his legacy while at Manchester United, as well as cricketer Brian Lara should be among the A-listers who could help bring an end to this country penchant for talent discovery by default.
He admitted that assigning a team leader to bring such accomplished athletes together to impart ideas and issue recommendations could be a major hurdle, citing that they were all strong in their individual convictions.
He lamented that nationals have become quick at pointing fingers, rather than engage in introspection and adopt a clear position on the positive future of sport.
"Go into your communities, take that kid that you realise going down the bad road and try and talk to him. Don't wait until that is the person that jumping over you fence to come and rob you. We could make change. Let's stop blaming Government. We put them there. So we have to blame ourselves for putting them there," Sancho said.