Late in their inaugural Super Rugby Pacific season, the Moana Pasifika team management surprised their Fiji-born winger Timoci Tavatavanawai by flying his mother, Melania Raqina to New Zealand to watch him play for one of Super Rugby’s newest franchise teams.
Tavatavanawai left his island home for the Land of the Long White Cloud in 2017 and his mother said she was proud of what he had achieved over the past five years.
“Timoci is the third eldest in a family of nine,” Raqina said.
“He began his primary school education at Vugalei District School in Naimasimasi, Tailevu, moved to Namara District School before joining Queen Victoria School.
“I noticed very early on that he had a passion for rugby and I decided to support him whole heartedly.
“He represented Tailevu in Kaji Rugby and was part of the QVS under-18 team that won the Deans Trophy in 2016 with the likes of Ratu Meli Derenalagi, Tevita Ikanivere and Simione Kuruvoli, who are now part of the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua.
“He went on to represent the country in the U18 schoolboys team and the U20 program before he was spotted by Tasman Mako selectors to join their U19 team.
“When he told me that he was approached to join the Moana Pasifika, I told him he had my full support.
“I am proud of what he has achieved and what he has done for us.
“Throughout his rugby journey, I had only bought him one pair of rugby boots and I am quite surprised that he still has that pair of boots to this day.”
The Moana Pasifika team catered for all the expenses to enable Raqina watch her son in action, saying she was caught off guard when she received a random Facebook message from a man named Aaron Mauger.
“Coach Aaron sent me a friend request on Facebook and once I accepted it, he introduced himself as Timoci’s coach and shared the idea he had of me coming over to New Zealand to surprise my son.
“It took them only a week to get my passport and visa done and by Friday I was off to see my boy.
“It was the first time for me to go overseas, let alone travelling by myself. “They paid for everything and I am so thankful to Coach Aaron for giving me the opportunity to surprise my son.”
Raqina shared the moment she had to break the news to tell her son that his father had passed on.
“Timoci was organising all paperwork to have his father, my husband, spend Christmas with him in New Zealand last year.
“We did all the paperwork and logistics without my husband knowing as Timoci wanted it to be a surprise.
“He was shattered when he received the news of his father’s passing and he was devastated that he could not attend the funeral because of COVID restrictions.
“The team management took it upon themselves to bring me over to New Zealand and I am really thankful to each member of the Moana Pasifika family for their support.”
She urged parents and guardians to support their children with whatever career path they chose.
“They can go a long way with the right amount of support and it is our job as parents to help steer them in the right path.
“I would like to share this with all parents and guardians, to support your children in whatever they set their minds to.
“Everything in life is a lesson and that is how life is. “Our job as parents is to support our children and guide them with whatever decision they make.”
Tavatavanawai is on radar of both the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Fiji Rugby Union and it was evident that he was one of the young rugby stars of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season.
Raqina admitted she is not a fan of the All Blacks team but said she would learn to support the team if he son was given the chance to represent them.
Moana Pasifika head coach Aaron Mauger said the club acknowledged the role parents played in their players’ upbringing and based their core values around that principle.
“Family is everything for us,” Mauger said.
“Just through circumstance, Jimmy (Tavatavanawai) did not have the chance to connect with his family after his father passed away. We felt that it was really important to create an opportunity for him to see his mother, who he had not met since he left the islands in 2017.
We took the opportunity and it certainly was a nice surprise for everybody.”
