Perseverance and pride: Santiago Rodriguez signs with Portuguese sports club
- Barbara Ouellette
- May 30
- 4 min read
by Sarah Barr
Staff Writer
You’ve probably heard the phrase “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
The analogy is real because anytime someone strives for an ultimate goal, they know they have to put in the work over the long haul in order to compete, no matter the event or the distance.
When 18-year-old Santiago Rodriguez registered with Sporting Clube de Portugal as a federated steeplechase athlete, the Newington High School senior climbed the first wrung of many on the ladder to his Olympic hopes and dreams.
“It’s a far in the future thing,” said the son of David and Jennifer Rodriguez, his biggest supporters who also keep this student-athlete grounded.
“There’s a lot of work between now and then. We don’t want to diminish that. A lot of progression has to happen,” David said.
He’s a runner himself and is involved in his son’s training.
“I’ve been running with him since he was very young,” the track team booster president added.
“He’s run a few half marathons and that’s pretty impressive. People have reacted positively. But I’d like to make sure not to gloss over the fact that the competitions aren’t the difficult part. It’s the day-to-day training. He runs six out of seven days a week. He has to train to move towards everything we’re talking about. That’s the difficult part, the part no one sees.”
Santiago is a three-season runner competing in cross-country, indoor and outdoor track. Steeplechase is his premiere event but he didn’t start it until freshman year in high school. He came within seconds of the school record in his very first race.
“I describe it as if it was a hurdle for distance plus a water pit thrown in there,” he said of 2,000-meter race that increases to 3,000 meters at the collegiate and professional levels.
“It’s one of the most difficult track events because it is long and the barriers are thick and difficult to jump over,” David added. “I have talked to people who have literally ran it once and said never again.”
Because it takes so much stamina Santiago trains from 3:00 in the afternoon until 6:00, including his distance workout and hurdle practice. Sometimes there’s weight training after practice. Homework must get done, which means he’s in bed around 11:00 to get in his eight hours of sleep.
“It takes a lot of perseverance and mental fortitude to get up every day and do this,” his mom Jennifer said.
She’s a teacher at Anna Reynolds School and an NHS graduate herself.
“But it’s more than running and weight training. He’s also the team captain so he’s managing the leadership portion of all of this as well. There’s no let up. We’re very proud of him.”
The first of what is hoped to be many payoffs for all this hard work came last summer when Santiago competed at the prestigious Nike Outdoor Nationals in Oregon. He finished in the top 100, which translates to the top 10 in Portugal.
Thanks to Jennifer’s Portuguese heritage the family has dual citizenship. Santiago could register as an unattached athlete, representing himself and not a team, and thus join a club to train at a high-performance center in Lisbon and perhaps compete for Portugal.
This isn’t just any club he’s registered with. Sporting Clube de Portugal (also known as Sporting CP) has a 120-year history. That’s a hefty reputation to uphold this coming summer when he’ll be at the Under 20 National Championship (July 11-12) and the Under 23 National Championships a week later, a major source of personal pride for the family.
“It’s a hell of an opportunity,” Jennifer said. “Universities are willing to work with him and the training in Portugal.”
Which brings up the logical next question of what college and what major? He has not made a firm choice but the major course of study would be something to do with computers along the lines of engineering, cyber security, or computer science.
Santiago’s accomplishments are met with a great deal of community pride. Newington has a significant Portuguese American population and is host to the Portuguese Club of Hartford on North Mountain Road.
There are an estimated 15,000 residents of Portuguese descent. Santiago is a third-generation folklore dancer. He practices every Thursday and goes to festivals throughout New England to perform.
His success is a source of joy and bonding especially in the eyes of his mother and biggest fan.
“I can tell you as the observer in this relationship I love the relationship they [father and son] have in this shared love of a sport and I’m proud of both of them in what they’ve accomplished so far and the opportunities in the future,” she said. NL