Wakapau Secondary stands a good chance in the Digicel Schools Football tournament, according to Teacher/Manager Kapil Singh.
Singh via telephone with Stabroek Sport said this is the first time that the school is competing in the tournament and when he compares his students to their counterparts in other regions they stand a good chance of walking away with the trophy.
Located in Region Two, Pomeroon-Supenaam, Singh said that to some of the students football is pretty new, but he is confident that they will be ready by June 15th.
Cricket, he said, is the dominant sport in the region, “but the children will learn the rules of the game by June 15th.”
The students, he said, has been in training for some three weeks now under the watchful eye of coach Lindy France, who works with them daily, and they have improved greatly from their first day on the field.
Asked about their practice facility, Singh said that they are using a ground not far from the school which is sand filled. That, he noted, is not the most ideal facility for the students to practise on, but they are making the best of it.
He also said when compared to other facilities their ground is in much better shape.
Singh also said he knows that if his students should win the regional competition they will have a challenge matching skills with schools that have been practicing on what is considered the ideal facility, but they will cross that bridge should they get there.
Asked if there were any other challenges facing the school as they prepare for the tournament, Singh said no as they have everything they need to prepare.
The twenty students who make up the team are drawn from forms one to four. He said that fifth form students were not selected as part of the team since they are writing the CSEC exams.
“I don’t want to interfere with their exams, they have to concentrate on passing their examination first of all. That is why no fifth form students were selected. We will work with the students from form one to four.”
Explaining why the school was registered for the tournament, Singh said that there are eight secondary schools in Region 2 and “we try to get the students involved in sporting activities that the other schools participate in. And when we ask the students they said that they were interested, so we registered.”
