Teacher by day but a star by night

BY day Perry Moore works as a teacher at Keebra Park State School.

By night he’s representing the Gold Coast on the national football stage.

It’s all in a day’s work for this Coomera superhero who is relishing the chance to fly the flag for his club and city.

“We’ve always been seen as a forgotten, overlooked side so it’s quite ironic now that we’re the team representing the Gold Coast,” he said ahead of tonight’s round of 32 FFA Cup match with Magpies Crusaders.

“It was awesome watching Surfers getting to do it (in the past) and the Knights last year and now we get the opportunity.”

Coomera’s vice-captain and goalkeeper won’t be short of fans, with many of his students expected to watch the livestream.

“Being a teacher at a sporting-mad school means there’s always athletes playing at a representative level so it’s pretty cool I get to now fly the flag for football at my school,” he said. “I’m hoping a few of them tune in and watch a bit.

“I know they’re going to post it on our school Facebook page so hopefully we can drum up a bit of support.

“It would be awesome if the kids got on board and I’m sure I’ll hear about it on Friday when I get back, whatever way the game goes.”

With captain Mark Ingerson suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards, the goalkeeper will step up and take on captaincy duties in the knockout competition clash.

“We’ll be playing with him (Ingerson) in mind,” Moore said. “I’m really honoured to be the one to take the boys out but it’s really unfortunate he has to miss out.

“I’ll tell the boys how proud I am of them for making it this far and to play with enjoyment.

“We’ve always been the underdog in every game so far and we’ll probably end up taking on that role again.”