Thank you Samoa Rugby Union

Dear Editor,

I have wondered why it is that our country seems to lose their belief in our rugby team, you see people cheer for the Fijian Sevens more than they do the Manu. It is sad but it is no surprise. 

No matter how much money our government seems to inject into the sport or the team, whether we get a former All Blacks coach, something seems amiss. For me and my family, it took what has happened to my nephew for us to fully see it first-hand. 

It has been an emotional torment, a heart wrenching ordeal of betrayal, of unfairness and extreme injustice. Yet in spite of all this, I am left to say to our Samoa Rugby Union, ‘fa’afetai tele lava’. 

Thank you for clarifying why Rugby in Samoa can never be restored to its prominence. Why our people can never be more proud in the main sport of our nation. Because there is an old culture deeply entrenched that dictates all decisions. You can appoint many managers and leaders but there will always be an abuse of power from the top. When the wrong people are given a little power and authority, they will always hurt the innocent in their gluttonous paths to glory. 

Thank you for your selfishness – in putting those you personally know in the frontlines so as to satisfy your own ulterior motives at the expense of those that arduously gave it all their strength, commitment and hearts during the trials. Thank you for dismissing the call for trials just to make the local boys feel accepted when at the end of the day, they will only make a tenth of the national team as you bring in overseas players of Samoan descent. 

Thank you for never keeping your words during press conferences, that ‘local boys’ will be given first priority. The few that you do pick, what happens to their careers upon return? The overseas players get the exposure they need but our locals just end up oh well, I suppose just a return ticket for a trip of a lifetime. How do we nurture their natural talent so they play with the pride that makes a true Manu Samoa? How do we retain them so they become better and leave a legacy in the game?

Thank you that we see how fractioned you all are, driven by your individual goals. There definitely is an ‘I’ in your team and I suppose whoever the top dog is, always gets his ways, and should their businesses prosper from it, all the better. 

Thank you for never declaring any conflicts of interest. Transparency? I think not.

Thank you for easing our qualms. We now know that any long term investment in the Union itself would prove to be an absolute waste of financial resources. We will get sponsorships from overseas, but our teams will never be successful because you need to tidy up the home front first.

Thank you for the entertainment you provide, as a distraction from the mere problems we face. However, just like a TV series, we all tire of it, and I think it is high time one should admit, that your conundrum of non-sense is far overrated and not worthy of any attention. Thank you for being one of the main reasons our Prime Minister is continuously ridiculed because your ongoing dramas only tarnish his reputation more as Chairman of the Union and leader of this country. 

Thank you for not giving a damn about how families feel, I suppose not having a woman in your management team makes it better because who cares about maternal instincts right? Wait until something like this happens to your own blood then you will feel a portion of how we do. But hey, since it’s a male dominated sport, what would we women know? How many more hearts must you break? How many more families will you continue to hurt?

Thank you for trying to break a child that never needed to be broken in the first place through the team coaches and managers you hire. Your mistreatment of him and unfair decisions may have hurt him deeply, but he can never be broken. Not your job, not your circus. He may forgive you for literally toying with his emotions, but we raised him a better human than all of you combined. 

He will have no reason to prove his strength, skill and talent to any of you for we know his potential. Thank you for compromising your professionalism and standards by turning a blind eye and not doing the right thing.  You have wronged us and we have forgiven. But justice will prevail, and God will never fail. 

Thank you for hurting us because from our pain we realized, united as a family, in prayer and humility, we know we will rise from this in God’s grace. Thank you for unfairness and injustice. 

It has tested our loyalty and patriotism of which no one can ever take away from us. Thank you for putting us through hell because it attested to a true deity who will serve justice where it is due. No man is more powerful than the living God, He sees all, He knows all and He will never forsake us all. 

May you be blessed with the wisdom to accept what comes your way so that you never put any more families especially young talented Samoans through a similar experience. Thank you for your apology that we do not need. Most of all, ‘fa’afetai le fai tama, fa’afetai le fa’aeaea aiga, fa’afetai le loto nu’u’, Thank you Samoa Rugby Union.

 

Sincerely yours,

Aunty Dahlia

Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>