Brian "Neigo" Brown is one of Hanover's rising footballers. At the tender age of eleven, young Brown is on the starting eleven of the Mount Pelier Football Club's Under-17 team. He is the youngest player on the team, where he plays the defensive position of left back.
Despite his age, being only three feet and six inches tall and weighing less than 70 pounds, Brown represented Mount Pelier in the Hanover Cooperative Credit Union's-sponsored Social Development Commission's Under -17 tournament in the parish where amazed spectators with his impressive slide-tackling skills.
The grade five Sandy Bay Primary and Junior High School student told The Gleaner that he started playing football at the school at age seven. He said that his father, former Seba United striker Brian 'Rambo' Brown was responsible for honing his football skills.
"My father used to take me to football games when I was smaller," the little defender said.
Brown was drafted onto the Mount Pelier Under-17 squad less than two month ago by coach Brenton Moodie. He said that he hopes to represent Jamaica in the near future and noted that his smaller brothers, who were only four and seven years old, were aspiring footballers who had very good football skills.
According to Brown, he is a big fan of Reggae Boy Onandi Lowe and simply adores Brazilian superstar, Ronaldo.
Coach Moodie said that he was impressed with the diminutive defender from the very first day he turned up for training.
He said that he selected Brown to be on the teams starting eleven regardless of his age and size, because, despite showing great courage, he had adequately mastered the fundamental football skills.
"He turned up for training and told me that he wanted to play left back," Moodie said. "I told him that he was too short but he replied that Stephen "Shorty" Malcolm who was a very short player, used to play in that position and that he did well. I could not dispute that, so, I let him try out that position and he shone. He has played the position for Mount Pelier ever since."
"He has exceptionally good tackling skills for his age," Moodie noted. "Despite his small stature, he is not afraid to tackle and win balls from opponents who are almost twice his size. "He is one of Jamaica's future Reggae Boys. Football is in his blood," he added.
