 Now when Mount Pleasant Football Academy lifted their Maiden Jamaica Premier League title at the end of the 2022-23 season, it was seen as the culmination of a seven-year process for them to conquer Jamaican football. But for them, the process has only just begun, with St Anne Outfit harboring aspirations of further developing their already extensive academy to spread their wings to conquer regional football as well. Here to shed some more light on those aspirations and more, principle of the academy, Victor Stewart and we have student athletes, Claver Neuchent and Oshkai Quavers. Gentlemen, welcome to the Sports Mac Zone, great to have you on. Victor, I know you as a 10-year FIFA referee and you have transitioned now into administration. Talk to us about the pride that Mount Pleasant is feeling at the moment. Given what was achieved in the Jamaica Premier League last season and beyond that, what's happening in the community? Thank you Lance. The feeling is high at Mount Pleasant as far as our achievements are concerned. To have lifted the crown in a seven-year span is a big achievement for us. The mantra at Mount Pleasant is to continue that dynasty and hence the academy plays a very important role. At the academy we cater for students between 10 and 19 and the hope is to have these kids much accolade into the Premier League team or any Premier League team across the country or international. It does have good financial backing for sure, I know that. But even beyond becoming national champions after seven years, you qualified for the top flight within two to three years of being formed. So that in itself is sensational. It is. The club was formed in 2016 and in 2018 they actually much accolade to the National Premier League and in 2023 we culminate that progress with the crowning of the national championship. To introduce our young gentlemen here, give our viewers an idea of the enthusiasm that you're getting from your teenagers being a part of a Mount Pleasant academy and the fact that it's going way beyond football and also academics. The academic area of the institution is very big on our agenda. Indeed we cater for our student-athlete generally and so we promote the academy as an educational institution which is strong on football development and so that has worked well for us over the years. So we get a lot of requests from students across Jamaica, we take it across the section of the island and we are not going into the Caribbean. I want to hear more about that but let's get Claver Nugent to comment quickly on how he feels as being a part of the Mount Pleasant academy and the growth that you think you've had since you've been there. I'm present I've played a big part in my career so far. I've developed so much over the years and I'm grateful for that. You're talking a combination of as a football player and your academics as well, can you expand on that? Yes sir. I have two CAC subjects so far. And you're only 15? Yes sir. Yes. Physical education and biology. So it's a boarding institution, you actually live in the Mount Pleasant space. How do you blend the time that you give to your academics and your football training? It's like a psychosur from dorm to classes to training so each session of its own time. And you're enjoying it? Yes sir. Oshka, you're three years younger at 12 years old. Talk to us about your experience at Mount Pleasant academy and how well you're embracing what is happening for you. Well I like the school, I wouldn't know much, I just joined some last month but the school is nice, I've learned a lot both in football and academics. You were born in the USA, your parents are from the Dominican Republic. Yes, correct. But you've been visiting Jamaica during the past, you know in your formative years. What attracted you to the Mount Pleasant academy? My love for the game of football. I liked playing football ever since I was young and I wanted to come to Mount Pleasant to expand on that. Okay and Victor, tell us about Mount Pleasant's role in attracting someone like young Oshka. Well what we offer at Mount Pleasant is a full scholarship for the students. There's no tuition fee. Everything at Mount Pleasant is offered by the stakeholders. So we have a full boarding facility, three meals per day, a different set of uniform per day, all of the material and equipment needed for classroom and for technical work on the field of this. We offer everything to the students, a closed circuit community where everything is there for them for their comfort and outside of that we have recreational activities that will keep them going. It's like a family away from home. What's the student population like at the moment? Currently we have 60 students but our capacity is actually 75 and we will work with that. We want to keep it close as that. I know the academics as you just mentioned is a critical part of the program. But how good are these young players, Oshka and Cleaver, how good of footballers are they because this is a sports show so we want to know how good they play. They are actually good footballers. We have had some games in recent time where they play against their counterparts and it was a total annihilation. When you say counterparts what do you mean? Same age group from different institutions. I can't call the names because they would be so embarrassed. I mean like eight, zero, ten, zero. And so at one point it started to get frustrated so we are now putting them up against higher age groups which is giving them some more challenge. But just to go back to the academics some more. We are proud to say that we have a 90% pass rate in CXC among our students. We have had students at 10 grade matriculate for sixth form. Last year we had a partnership with another institution. A number of our students would have completed the CXC syllabus. So we are not only focusing on the football development, we are looking at the holistic development of the student. And that is one of the reasons why it is attractive to parent and to youngsters like Oshka and Cleaver as you speak. Cleaver, you just mentioned getting through already CXC physical education and biology. Are those two your favourite subjects and what else academically you find exciting? Yes sir, I find mathematics and English very exciting so I want to do them in the future. Alright and what position do you play as a footballer? So left wing or right wing? Oh you are a winger. What do you consider to be your strongest tools as a player? So coming inside sir, finding the top corner. Top corner? Cutting in and shooting at goal? Yes sir. Which is your preferred shooting foot? Right foot sir. Or I can use both? You can use both. Great to hear. Oshka, talk to us about your strengths as a footballer. Well I play in midfield, my main strength is passing the ball and turning with it to keep possession of the ball. I normally shoot with my right foot although I don't score much goals. Well you are a midfielder so you will be forgiven if you don't score a lot of goals as long as you provide a lot of goals. Talk to us about the quality of coaching that you are getting at Mount Pleasant and how much that is helping your game? Well I've learned a lot since I went to Mount Pleasant. The coaches in my opinion are top class and I've learned all I think I could learn from them. Klavera, about the coaching? Sir the coaches are very high quality coaches sir. Most of them are normally professional football players who travel overseas and they are now here to share their experience with us sir and we are taking that information very well. Victor, you are teaching cohort at Mount Pleasant. Where did you get the group from and how solid is that group, not the football coaching group now about the academics, the class part? I am proud of the academic staff that we are having at Mount Pleasant. No. All of them are experienced teachers from different high schools and when I said John they volunteered to be at Mount Pleasant. All of our teachers are either college graduates or university. All of them have a bachelor's in their field. The quality of education they offer is very high and that we are very proud of. Can you talk to us about the facilities you've got there and how it facilitates the growth of these young men? And women? All boys at the moment. So we have four dormitories, each can accommodate a maximum of 25. So we can actually accommodate hundreds of kids but based on our program we will cap it off at 75. We have classroom, well ventilated, spacious classroom for all the subject areas and we do offer all the subjects specified for secondary school education and the ministry of education. We meet that requirement. We have a sense lab, a computer lab, a cafeteria, a full house, administrative area, laundry and all the other necessary facilities that would be akin to secondary schools across Jamaica. Yeah and the training facilities for football? Best in the island. What does it come from? So we have a gymnasium that is fully equipped with all the weights, training area, all of the material and equipment needed for a gym. We have a full-size football field and we are still working in progress because we are developing more fields. We have three full-size training fields there for the boys. And then we have three age group of players, under 13s, under 15s, under 17s. So they all work at the same time. We also have a hard court that we do skill training on there so everything is there for their development. When you say a hard court, you mean like a basketball kind of hard court? Not turf? Like artificial turf or football? No, no. Yeah. All right. I know that the Mount Pleasant group had played a part in like your castle players playing in the Dacosta Cup last year. How did that work? Well that was a amalgamation between the two institutions last year. That relationship no longer exists. We are basically on our own because we recognize that schoolboy football is a short-term activity. It is good to play schoolboy football but it's not the end product for them. At the normal high school boys play football between September and December for the most part. Yes. And of the 200-plus schools that play secondary football after October, most of them are out. At Mount Pleasant it's a 365 days a year football, football, football, football. So that is a plus for us. And from that we offer our kids international competitions, competition with clubs. So they are not deprived of playing competitive football. All right. And quickly before you go, can you talk to us about the vision for Mount Pleasant? Because I know that it goes beyond winning a national Premier League title. Absolutely. The vision is to develop young men, to export them to other areas across the region and globally on a whole and to have them become somebody that we are proud of. I mean to take a youngster from his community at a tender age and to watch that child grow into a professional footballer or advance academically, that is the vision to offer them the best opportunity for themselves and for the country on a whole. You say that you have a 60 group at the moment population but 75 is like... That's what we are. And you are sealing. Right. A parent watching now who would like his or her youngster to be a part of the Mount Pleasant Academy, how would they apply and what is the likelihood of them being successful? They can visit our website, it's out there in the public domain, so you can apply through that medium. Of course the technical staff, so we have two areas, the football and the academics. We are looking for kids with good football potential, not necessarily the finished product because it's a developing institution, hence the younger they come, the better for us. So you apply to any of the medium that is out there in the public sphere, the technical staff would look at them, currently we have an ongoing, what we call a recruitment session. So we... Like trials. Trials. Yes. On weekends, kids will come in, the court will look at them, we depend on their capability. So in their, the observation of their football talent, we look at their academics. We're not looking for the Einstein's, so it doesn't have to... Average and above average students, we will work with them because our staff is capable of developing these youngsters. And of course you must come in with a high level of discipline or being able to coach, being coachable. Yes. That's what we are looking for. Yeah. All right, Victor, thanks a lot for talking to us here and all the best at Mount Pleasant. Congratulations on the work that you've been doing so far and may you continue with this fabulous vision that you have. Thank you, Lance. And all the best. And Oksha and Cleaver, young men will come, good having you on the Sportsmax zone today. We look forward to seeing you grow into successful players and adults overall. The Costa Cup football, that's sponsored by Water, in action and let's get some of the results, know as they close in on the championship stages, Manning's 2-1 over Port Antonio High, Port Antonio winning on aggregate, Manchester High, 2-1 over Monroe, 3-1 the victory margin on aggregate for Manchester High. Cristiana, 3-nil on aggregate after a nil-all draw with Rossi's, Froum, 4-1 over Virtec, so that's an 8-1 aggregate win for Froum. Milgolly winning 3-1 aggregate over Belair after a 2-1 win in the second leg. Happy Grove, 2-2 with Ocho Rios. Happy Grove advancing 4-3 on aggregate and Edwin Allen High beating 3-1 by McGraw and McGraw winning 4-1 on aggregate. In other results, Garvin Maseo, 9-nil over St. Mary High. That's a 16-nil aggregate win for Garvin Maseo. Cornwell College winning 3-2 on aggregate over Black River High, despite losing the second leg 1-nil. Dintail Technical, 7-nil over Horace Clark. Dintail winning on aggregate there by 9-ghost and nil. Good to see that some of the players who had been hurt by the lightning strike some weeks ago back and performing for Dintail Technical. Clarendon College 4-1 over Decartret, the defending champions winning 12-1 on aggregate there. Central High beaten by William Nibb 1-nil in the second leg and that's the aggregate score William Nibb advancing and Tacky 4-1 aggregate over Cedric Titus. Tacky winning the second leg by 4 goals to 2 and to round off the information here. Group 1, Clarendon College, Cornwell College, Stets and Myle Gully. Group 2, Manchester High, Happy Grove, BB Coke High and Tacky High. These are the teams advancing to the group stages and the round of 16. Dintail High, William Nibb Christiana High and McGraw and in Group 4, Port Antonia High, Garvin Maseo, Glenmure High and from Technical, those are the teams filling up those groups. We go to break. There's still a lot more to come on the Sportsmax zone including Zone Update 2 and at the track.