Boatswain agrees to join Costa Rican club

And the 23-year-old is expected to arrive in San Jose on Monday night to join his new club, just over a week after spending time in the Costa Rican capital with his national teammates for the recent World Cup Qualifier against “Los Ticos”.

Boatswain said, “I am happy as this is my first professional contract to play outside of Trinidad and Tobago. Two to three years ago I began playing in the Pro League with (Point Fortin) Civic and then Marvin Gordon brought me to Defence Force and I want to thank him for that.

Then the national team pick came and now I am very grateful for this opportunity to play with Alajuelense in Costa Rica.” Excited as he may be, Boatswain is fully aware that his life in Costa Rica will be different to what he might have grown accustomed to in TT .

“Yes I know. It’s going to be a big step up but I am ready. I am prepared to go there and settle in as quickly as possible and work my legs off to be successful on a personal level and to help the club achieve their goals.” He added, “I have an idea of what the game is like there. They are crazy about the game and I know the fans will be looking to see what I can do at the club.” Boatswain, a former student of St Benedict’s College, is a qualified paramedic, having completed courses at the Emergency Training Institute of Trinidad and Tobago in Charlieville Chaguanas and also worked part time with Wells Services Petroleum Company in South Oropouche during his time at Civic Centre.

“I went to school at ETIT where I trained to become a medic and I also worked at Wells Services but football was always the main thing for me. I kept working and looking for the opportunity. I went to ‘Army’ and my form was good to some extent and then I got the call to the national team.” Boatswain revealed that the Costa Rican club began tracking him shortly after the two World Cup qualifiers versus Panama and Mexico in March.

“They were looking at me from the two games in March and the interest grew after the game in Costa Rica,” he said.

Boatswain spoke further about his time under Dennis Lawrence and the respect he holds for his current TT teammates who have been wearing the national colours for some time before he arrived on the scene.

“Well, Dennis Lawrence saw something in me and he gave me that chance which I think I grabbed openly in the game against Barbados and then he kept faith in me for the World Cup qualifiers. I am thankful for that and I hope I can continue to improve so I can come back into the team and deliver and help us to have a good chance of qualifying.” He continued, “Stern (John) has been doing some extra finishing with me during the recent camp and it has been helping me and being around some of the other players has been a great experience for me so far. Kenwyne (Jones) is the main man so I came in knowing I would have to be working hard to get into the team. He has been really good overall in the camp and he is a good striker I believe. Hopefully all of us can be in good shape, you know, be at our best for the rest of matches coming up.”