Steadily-improving West Ruimveldt gunning for Massy U18 title

As the Massy Under-18 Secondary Schools’ football tournament kicks off this Saturday, a few tournament favourites have already positioned themselves.
Amongst the likes of regional champions Chase’s Academic Foundation and the tournament’s defending champions Dolphin Secondary sits the steadily improving West Ruimveldt Secondary.
From a third-place finish in the same competition last year to a second-place spot in the Republic Bank League later that year, West Ruimveldt has been working their way up the ranks, and Teacher Leon Bishop believes they can win it all this time around.
Bishop told this publication exclusively, “We’ve been working over the last two to three weeks because most of the guys had schools’ national championships, so we had to balance the football and the track and field, but we’re putting it in place, and we’re hoping this year we get another good year. One of the years that we think we should be able to win this time around after placing third last year. So, we’re working hard to get there.”

Responding to enquiries about his team’s preparation, Bishop divulged one area that they will be looking to improve.
“I think we need to focus for the entire duration of the match because, I mean, the last time we lost the semi-finals to Dolphin, it would’ve been a late goal that cost us, and we don’t expect to have those issues again this time around because we’re going to work from the first whistle to the end,” he explained.
The teacher added, “And once we stay focused for the duration of the match, we should do better this time around.”
The teacher and coach went on to praise the school’s administration for their support, citing it as a reason for their recent success.
“A lot of work”, Bishop said about what has gone into his school’s success on the football pitch. “Myself, the staff and the school because our team is not just me and Mr Holder; it’s from the head teacher right down. It’s a collaborative effort between us and the admin of the school because without the support of the admin, we can’t do well.”
“We’ve been doing our best; they’ve been giving us their best, so basically that has been our success so far,” Bishop further noted.
The Massy U18 tournament gets underway at the Queen’s College Ground on Saturday. There, 32 secondary school teams will be vying for a $300,000 grand prize. The second-place finisher will receive $200,000 and the third-place $100,000, all of which will be allocated to school projects of their choice.