Tunapuna Secondary growing as a football force

TUNAPUNA GOVERNMENT Secondary is showing growth as a force in schools football, in the East Zone, according to their coach Alejandro Acosta.

In a recent interview, Acosta, who has been involved with the school’s football teams for the past three year, spoke about the improvement of the various teams under his watch. He also mentioned the school’s consistent performances in other sporting disciplines.

“I came on board as coach and the programme got revamped,” said Acosta. “We have constantly been improving and we’re trying to highlight the school as an option. We’re already high in academics and we’re an emerging school in sports.”

He continued, “The cricket team has gone into the Championship (Division), the netballers won the East Zone, the basketballers won the East Zone and, this year, the football so far has been performing well in the League, in the East Zone.

“This year is the first time we’ve entered the Under-20 Division, so we play Under-14, Under-16 and Under-20s. Because we’re a small school, it’s basically our Under-16 team that play in the Under-20. So far, we’re second on the standings in the Under-20, (below) San Juan North. In the Under-16s, we’re second underneath St Augustine (and) in the Under-14s we’re third, under San Juan and St Augustine.”

Acosta, who was a past student at Tunapuna Secondary, is also a schoolteacher at Tunapuna Boys RC.

“What I recognise is that a lot of parents don’t even consider Tunapuna Sec a choice,” Acosta commented. “They believe it don’t have a football programme. The case is that people don’t know that the school is excelling.”

According to the Tunapuna football teams’ coach, “We’re trying to fix over the (school’s) football field. Years ago, there was a drain, in the back of the field, but it collapsed. It’s only now we’re getting some funding and trying to get corporate sponsorship. It’s just a little bit more work to do.”

Acosta pointed out that academic success, as well as discipline, are very important among his players. He said, “All players are under informal football contracts requiring positive academic performances and behaviours at school.”