Sancho pays little visit

Her name is Sancho Lyttle and she is from Paul Over just outside the heart of capital city Kingstown on mainland St. Vincent.

That village is in East Kingstown, part of the multi-island state of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. five years ago, Sancho had never lifted a basketball. But she was familiar with sporting activities. She was a child prodigy and after leaving the Kingstown Preparatory School, Sancho carved out a niche for herself at the Girls’ High School.{{more}}

She was an athlete of tremendous merit, successful in a number of track and field events.

She grafted her way onto the National Under 16 Netball squad, and became a member of the Under 23 as well as Senior National squads in a short space of time.

By then, she had grown by leaps and bounds that is physically, and at six feet, there was always the indication that Sancho Lyttle was bound for stardom.

Height was an attribute and by the time she had adjusted to the basketball court, she had acquired sufficient ball handling skills to make her a force to be reckoned with.

She admitted that the adjustment is still ongoing. But she is ensuring that she strengthens her body.

“I tried to work on different aspects of my game. I tried shooting from the outside more,” she said. She indicated that she never maintained a single position and had to adapt.

Some injury problems have plagued her, and even though she was number five for the Houston Comets at the WNBA Draft, Sancho is still regarded as a Rookie.

She recalls her best outing was against the Los Angeles Sparks when she had 15 points and nine rebounds. She credits her height and jumping ability with her ability to pull down those rebounds.

“Everything I did, I did it to the best of my ability,” Sancho pointed out. She disclosed that she made efforts to learn as quickly as possible and that attitude contributed to her rewards.

She is looking forward to more playing time on the court next year.

Sancho is home on a short holiday. She confessed that she has to practise more to upgrade her skills if she is to spend more time on court.

“Everyday in practice, you have to do stuff to impress the coach. If he is not impressed enough, your time on the court will be limited,” Sancho said.

She attributed her playing time to simply being a rookie, and as far as she was concerned: “all rookies are treated the same, unless one stands out.”

About what she learnt, Sancho said: “It is whatever you put your mind to and how much work you do in any particular (thing which) is going to determine how far you go.”

She plans to go on as long as her physical condition allows her.

Sancho is one of the nation’s top players, and there is a regional tournament carded for next year, but Sancho is not expected to be in that line up.

She is still recovering from an operation just over a month ago, so most of her focus is on rehabilitation. That rules out her being approached to represent St. Vincent and the Grenadines. But once her recovery is complete, one can expect to hear much more about Sancho. In the meanwhile, the tall basket baller remains cool and simple.

But one gets the feeling that the best is yet to come from her, and her two weeks at home will perhaps speed up the rehabilitation process.