IN a very male-dominated sport renowned for brazen burly men bulldozing their way across the field, Mahezabeen Farzana Khan is making heads turn.
The 37-year-old Nasikawa Vision College principal is a level three rugby league coach.
And her passion for the sport was ignited in 2018 when a colleague at the Korolevu, Sigatoka, school encouraged her to take up coaching to better understand the code.
“When I was posted to Nasikawa, I heard the success story of NVC in rugby league and I began wondering what it was all about,” she shared.
“Once I understood the rules and how the game was played, it all made sense and now I am fascinated by the sport.
“I have been involved with our school team since then and can proudly say that NVC is offering the best it can to the students.”
She said her interest in rugby league grew over time and she paid tribute to the people who had been behind her success.
“The credit goes to a few people who saw me through to this namely Akuila Vute, Meshar Ali and Siladjzic Khan.
“They supported my interest and passion.
“My ardent love for rugby league comes with personal reasons as well.
“I took part in the coaching clinic because I wanted to know the rules of the game so that when I am watching my students play I know exactly what they are doing and if penalised on the field, I must know why.
“I have been serving in the rugby crazy province since 2018 in schools such as Cuvu College, Nadroga Navosa Provincial High School, Sigatoka Andhra Sangam College and now at NVC.
“I am passionate about education and seeing that all students who come under my care receive the best education experience possible. “I believe in holistic development of students and women empowerment.”
Khan said one of her aims was to put together a girls team at NVC and developed a competition for them.
“I will establish a girls team this year and I want other schools to do the same so that the girls too can have a feel of rugby league.
“I would like to see more girls participating in this sport. I will await the directive from Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby League and pursue the other logistics to develop rugby league for the schools in the West.”
