“My father advised to play to the best of my ability and not to focus on my mother’s death too much when he dropped me at our camp in St Theresa Primary School.”
Meleama Tumalevu. Photo: Ronald Kumar
Meleama Tumalevu, who is a winger for the Ba girl’s Under-14 rugby team, played in honour of her late mother.
She died in September after suffering from breast cancer.
“I didn’t expect to be selected in the Ba team and it pains me that my mother has passed on but I’m still glad that I have my father by my side,” she said.
“My mother passed away on September 16 and we buried her two weeks later.”
Tumalevu said her mother used to support her during her rugby games when she was alive.
“My mother used to advise me to be careful of injuries and play smart rugby,” she said.
“My father advised to play to the best of my ability and not to focus on my mother’s death too much when he dropped me at our camp in St Theresa Primary School.”
Tumalevu said she aspires to play for the Fijian Drua women’s team in the future.
“I am inspired by Fijiana lock Asinate Serevi as she has the agility and strength for both attack and defence.
“I hope to attend Natabua High School or Ba Methodist High School as both schools have rugby programmes for girls.”
The 14 year old Ratu Rusiate Nabuta Memorial School student is originally from Tawava village in Kadavu and has maternal links to Nailaga Village, Ba.
“I also take part in athletics in the 400m, 4x100m, 4x400m relays and the 200m track events,” she said.
“I also play netball and my position is Goal Attack.”
Tumalevu said their coach has reminded them to improve their performance after their 21–14 loss to Taveuni on Day One of the Vodafone Kaji rugby competition at Suva’s HFC Bank Stadium.
“I believe we can reach the final of this competition and take the trophy back to Ba. This team has a lot of good players who has the strength in attack and defence.”
Tumalevu said she is also related to former Fiji men’s sevens captain Waisea Nacuqu.
“He is my uncle as he is the cousin of my late mother. For me trusting God has been my strength to endure the pain of losing my mother and our coach often say; if God is with us who can be against us.
This goes along with the team motto (Ba dialect); E kuca ya meaning you can win any battle if you put your mind to it.”
RESULTS
Taveuni 21–14 Ba; Nasinu 12–31 Ba; Waidina 0–31 Ba
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