Spartan’s Acosta signs to continue playing career at Coast Guard Academy

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA) - C.J. Acosta took the next step in his athletic and academic career, signing with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in front of friends, family and coaches.

The Central Union standout will continue competing in both football and track, choosing a path that offers both athletic opportunity and long-term goals.

"This is a very exciting and proud moment for C.J. and the Acosta family," track and field coach David Hernandez said.

Acosta said his decision stemmed back to a childhood dream.

"When I was younger, I wanted to be a SWAT sniper. So my thing is like, I'm going to go to the military, be like a Chris Kyle sniper, and then go into, like LAPD SWAT or something," Acosta said. "I kind of started to think about it, it's kind of dangerous. I don't know if I want to put my life that much on the line."

Now, it's about what he wants now.

"The military has always been something that intrigued me, something that I've wanted to do," Acosta said. "I know how important college is, so whenever those two things collided with the Coast Guard Academy, it sparked an interest."

The academy proved to be the right fit, offering strong academics and the opportunity to compete as a dual-sport athlete, something Acosta nearly stepped away from earlier this year.

"Before the school season, you know, just like maybe sticking to one. But I'm glad that I chose, pursue both," Acosta explained. "The other school is they're kind of is recruiting me for one, but not the other. And, I enjoy both. So it's going to be hard to kind of put down one and raise the other one or vice versa. So, going to do both is it's incredible. It's lifts a lot of weight off my chest as well."

Even with his decision made, there were still questions about competing at the Division III level, but Acosta said that ultimately didn’t matter.

"There's some times where I was thinking, what if I go, you know, the JUCO route or what if I go to this other D2 or NAIA school and work my way up to being in a D1 program, but with this, you know, it sets me up perfect for my future," Acosta remarked. "It's D3, but you could be D3 and you can still be up there on the leaderboards for everybody else. You could still got into the Olympics. You could still go [into] the U20 National team," Acosta said.

Hernandez said he saw Acosta's potential early on and has watched him grow throughout his time at Central.

"Just seeing him grow as an athlete, here at central has been incredible. Right off the bat, his talent showed. And, for him, you know, this this season. It's not over for track yet. We're hoping for him to have, you know, great at CIF and then maybe go to the state level. I mean, he's top ten in all San Diego section in the 100 meter long jump. Triple jump. You know he's a big part of our four by one. So, it's, very exciting to see what he still has to do and what he's going to be doing,” Hernandez said.

Acosta credited much of his success to the people around him, many of whom were in attendance for his signing.

"A lot of times in life, you could feel like you're kind of alone, you know, just like you're the only one going through something or that you really have no one to go to. But, I mean, today was a testimony that no matter what, there's always people in your corner. And, also, it's really important who you put in your corner because, all these people that were here, there, they were always rooting me on, always cheering for me. The people that maybe, I don't know directly, one on one, they are cheering my name whenever I was in the stands. So it's a good feeling knowing that you have all that support and no matter what. As far as you go, well, with me going all the way to Connecticut and Rhode Island, that support will follow me and always find me somewhere," Acosta said.

With a strong support system behind him, Acosta now looks ahead to continuing both his academic and athletic journey at the Coast Guard Academy.