Follow Your Dreams
Since beginning my rugby career in 2013 I have been able to travel to many places around the world to play the sport I love. Japan, Dubai, Brazil, America, England, Amsterdam are some of the countries I have travelled to. The biggest highlight by far has been coming to Fiji where half of my family live and my dad was brought up. It’s been the most humbling and honorable experience. I have many memorable memories that I will hold close to my heart and treasure for a life time.
There are many opportunities in women’s rugby to travel to different parts of the world. Recently, I travelled to Clermont-Ferrand in France with The Telecom Fijiana, where we competed in the final tournament of the Women’s World Sevens Series for 2016.
When travelling you experience many feelings and emotions. I can remember feeling very excited for the trip to France, however I also felt sad and nervous to be leaving friends and family. Being away from family and friends can be challenging, however as a team you are always there to support one another.
Our trip to France involved 3 flights…Nadi to Auckland, Auckland to Dubai, Dubai to Lyon, followed by a two hour bus ride from Lyon to Clermont-Ferrand. Overall, including the transit stops, we were travelling for nearly 50 hours.
As an athlete, it is important to cope with the challenges and effects of travelling as best as you can. We do this by drinking plenty of water and getting lots of sleep as well as recovery sessions including stretching and swimming.
Travelling as a team is the best way to travel as it’s just like travelling with all your close friends. We spend so much time training together so it’s very exciting when you are selected and given the opportunity to travel and play in the tournaments. Some of the things we would get up to include gym and field trainings, recovery sessions, team lotu, eating, sleeping, listening to music, team sing alongs, sightseeing, trying new foods and taking plenty of photos.
Representing Fiji is a very special privilege. One of the overwhelming factors of representing Fiji is the support from Fijians not only in Fiji, but around the world. I’m talking about the Fijian communities. Whenever we would take the field you always knew there was a group of Fijians flying the blue flag and cheering for us. The Fijian communities would even go to the extent of preparing lovo for us, once the tournament had ended.
I can say that I’m very proud to represent Fiji. I hope that young women in Fiji will aspire to be fit, healthy and to follow their dreams. As women’s rugby continues to develop and grow, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be part of a team environment, which is extremely fun and motivating.
As I finish up this blog, I would love to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the athletes that represented Team Fiji at the Olympics in Rio.
Lots of love
Brittany x
