Most players full focus is firmly on Hyundai A-League round one but Trent Buhagiar is also eyeing off his Higher School Certificate that kicks off on October 13.
October 8 will see the Central Coast Mariners take on Perth Glory to open their new campaign and for Trent Buhagiar that big moment is followed by another major milestone on October 13, the first exam of his HSC.
Buhagiar, who is just 18-years-old has the balance of a lifetime on his hands between the full time rigours of a professional footballer and the studying schedule of a year 12 student about to commence the most important run of exams of his life.
Despite the pressure that should naturally mount due to sport and studies, Buhagiar is handling it all like a pro’ with the help of the International Football School.
“It’s hard juggling football and school, I train in the morning and usually have school work e-mailed to me if I can’t make it to school,” Buhagiar said.
“A normal day for me is training with the Mariners, then I head to school and my down time is later in the afternoon at home around my study.
“The school has been really helpful, the teachers here are amazing, they always give me work to catch up on and are always supporting me because they want me to be the very best I can,” Buhagiar said.
When Trent signed his maiden profession contract in January the exciting attacker said there was never a temptation to leave school.
“I always wanted to finish school, the International Football School have supported me the whole way and I want to give back to them what they have given me. There would have been no point giving school away, I am so close to finishing and after 11 years of school I wanted to see it out until the end.
“The balance has been hard but I’ve been working my hardest to do my best at football and school and at the moment I feel like I’m doing well.
“It’s a lot of pressure on me but I’ll get through it, finishing my HSC is another pathway into another part of my life and football won’t always be there for you so you always need something to fall back on,” Buhagiar said.
Trent’s mentor and PDHPE teacher Gavin Thomas spoke about how the International Football School helps balance Trent’s lifestyle and credited his student for ‘never missing a deadline.’
“Trent started with us three and a half years ago and I’ve been his mentor since he started at the school,” Thomas said. “Obviously Trent’s a professional with the Mariners so we are trying to keep the balance between academics and football.
“It’s hard with Trent being offsite a lot of the time but what we’ve done is teach by correspondence, iTunes U and we’ve even had FaceTime lessons as well.
“Luckily for us Trent is quite level-headed and laid back so he always asks for help when required and he’s never missed a deadline so the good relationship we have as student and teach has helped him get through,” Thomas said.
