In First Season, Acorn’s Soccer Team Brings Home the Bronze

In less than four months, Acorn Community High School went from having no soccer at all to bringing home the bronze.

The Grand Avenue school’s soccer team came in third place in the New York Independent Schools League, losing out to Flushing International and Brooklyn Latin.

When Spanish teacher Daniel Cordaro and history teacher Gena Miller started the team this fall, they found an eager crowd.

“I told the kids about it last year and they came to me early September and said, “Are you going to do soccer? Are you going to do soccer?’ … They were psyched,” said Cordaro.

Many of the students are from the Caribbean, where they had played as kids.

“It was really nice to be on a team because that’s what I’m used to,” said co-captain Rasheem McGowan, 16.

Until he moved to Brooklyn last year, McGowan had played soccer "his whole life.” Without a regular outlet to play the sport in the states, the 12th grader said he felt “lousy” and “unmotivated” before joining the team.

Although officially co-ed, only one girl joined up. Cordaro hopes to recruit more females next year.

The team was funded by NYISL, a soccer league set up for small public schools that don’t have the resources to support their own team or join the New York City Schools’ PSAL league. NYISL in turn is funded by the New York City branch of the World Soccer Project.

Since it was the first year, many students didn't expect to place at all, and the group was thrilled to land in the third slot.

“They were so happy,” said Cordaro. “We were like on a high for a week, the kids loved it.”

And, pointed out McGowan, the experience was fulfilling for other reasons besides the win.

“I felt we’d achieved something as a team,” he said. “It takes time to build that team chemistry. I didn’t expect to reach that far with them, and we are like brothers now.”