Fiji Hockey Teams: Low on rank but high on morale

It’s not easy being the minnows of any tournament; get thrashed by big margin every game, and still maintain composure, waiting their day to make a mark.

Fiji’s national hockey outfits here in Delhi for the Hockey World League are in such a predicament, and if the going ons are any indication, they are on right track, even getting clap from people of other nationalities.

“We are here to make it happen,” says Sainiana Hicks, assistant-manager with the Fiji squad.

And what does Sainiana and a few other women officials do to ‘make it happen’?

They clap, cheer, encourage and just four of these women are enough to outsmart the rest of the public present at the National Stadium, New Delhi.

The heartening performance by 71-ranked Men’s team of Fiji and 59-ranked Women’s team — both are the lowest ranked teams in Men’s and Women’s category respectively — at the ongoing Hero Hockey World League Round, at New Delhi has earned them appreciation from none other than FIH President Leonardo Negre.

When the Men’s team scored their first goal of the tournament, the President gave a wide smile and clapped for them.

It’s not easy for the Fiji players and the officials either.

Shelling out close to 10000 Fiji Dollars (About INR 3 lacs to play here, to cover their own expenses, going out to person-to-person to gather that much money, is not what you expect when you play a sport for the country. But that is what the passion for Hockey is all about in a country which has a base of about 200 Men and 150 odd Women Hockey players, primarily hailing from Suva, the capital of Fiji and just one synthetic turf to boot.

“We are unknown, unheard of but still we are trying things game after game. In each of the first two games we tried something different, today’s no different. We will go back to see what mistakes we committed and correct on that,” tells the Fijian coach Andrew Smith.

Well, that almost every coach says, isn’t it? Interestingly, what ‘different’ is Fiji team is trying is showing out on the pitch.

Fiji’s Men and Women, both, in their respective encounters on Thursday, bagged the ‘Man of the Match’ awards, handed over to them by Leonardo Negre himself.

Susana Mudunatagi, the goalkeeper of the Women’s team won the award for her outstanding performance against India and Adrian Smith won it for the match against China. Not to be forgotten is the fact that India beat Fiji Men 10-0 and China beat Fiji Women 4-1.
And what is that different thing which the Fijians are trying?

The coach Smith says, “We go to the roof of our hotel for our morning runs. Previously, we were using the basement for the same but then the generator wasn’t helping us.Back in Fiji, we drink water directly from rivers. Here the food and water is not of our style but that hasn’t bothered us at all. We all love India and the experience of playing here.”

It doesn’t end here.

One of their main players is injured but the coach is confident that the team will get better in the next matches.

“We came here to win the tournament. Our performance will get better in the rest of the two games. We are here to send a strong message back home,” says the gutsy coach of the Fiji’s Men’s team.