Source: www.guardian.co.tt
Nicholas Clarke
Founder of The Sporting Experts, (SPEX) Kareem Scoon wants to reach out to the country’s young people by using sports to improve their lives. The 28-year-old began his agency a year ago with the intention of providing cutting edge equipment for young athletes and has since expanded to doing marketing research, as well as staging tournaments and sports days for local organisations. “Anything in sport that needs a service, we are willing to approach it,” he told the Guardian recently. Scoon was first inspired to create his own business during his time as a football coach for Diego Martin Secondary School, where his “bittersweet” experiences left him unsatisfied with how things were being done. “I realised that there were lots of problems in sport and I wanted to create a company to address these issues. I saw a need for some innovation in different areas from equipment and uniforms to discipline and refereeing.”
His first goal, he said, was to make football practice more fun for young players. “While coaching, I saw that the kids were distracted and the enthusiasm was not exactly there with the traditional ways of training, which is a ball and some cones. It dawned at me that we could use some innovative items to increase the enthusiasm and that’s where the idea for the company started in my mind.” A Fatima College alumnus, Scoon attended Northern Oklahoma College on a football scholarship before earning an Associate’s Degree from Scotsdale Community College in Arizona. He went on to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Management and Coaching from the University of America in London, England and also earned an FA Certification in Football Coaching while working at Fulham FC. After returning to T&T and spending a year at Diego Martin Secondary, he brought his line to life by making orders through an American equipment supplier and then selling the products under his own brand. Now a year old, his “rapidly expanding” company operates out of an office in St James with a warehouse located in Piarco.
SPEX’s clients have included the T&T Football Federation, the T&T Hockey Board, the T&T Tennis Association, All Sport Promotions, Media 21 and Joe Public FC. The warm response from customers, Scoon said, has motivated him to continue to expand. “It’s rewarding to see the young people using the equipment and from testimonials, I know the coaches and students alike are very grateful. The biggest accomplishment is to see the smiles on the kids faces.” A lifelong athlete, he is a firm believer in the power of sports to steer young people in the right direction. “You may not listen to your Physics teacher, but your football coach on the other hand can most times get you to do whatever he says. I’d like to look for ways to use that player/coach relationship to mould better individuals.” Scoon, who cites local legends Hasely Crawford, Ken Elie, Isa Muhammed and Brandon Bailey as “the real sporting experts”, added that his ambitions stretch beyond the confines of the local industry. “I want for us to probably compete with Nike. I figure anything is possible in life. My coach taught me that.”