The Ba Methodist High School Under-15 rugby league team has made history by being the first school from the Western Zone to win the U15 trophy at the Vodafone Fiji Secondary School Rugby League (FSSRL) National Finals Competition in Nadi last week.
They have etched their names in the chronicles of secondary school rugby league history in Fiji.
The team that was third seed in the Western Zone competition defeated the Southeast Zone number one seed, Queen Victoria School to win 20-6.
It was a proud moment for the team, the school and supporters.
Ba Methodist Saints coach, David Wise said QVS defeated them in the national quarter-finals last year 22-18.
“I’m so proud of the boys for turning the table this year,” he said.
“I would like to thank the Lord Almighty for being the pillar of strength for our team, the school principal, guardians, parents, Netava Rarokoliwa Tora, Parents and Teachers Association (PTA), the Nadi old scholars and our school supporters for supporting us throughout our journey.
“Discipline and hard work during training really paid-off.
“They executed the game plan accordingly and our strong defence made us win on Saturday.”
He said the boys were really looking forward to the finals since they had created history by being the first school team to reach a final in the national rugby league competition.
“Building up to the final I told the boys discipline will be the key component if we want to win the final,” he said.
“The parents and guardians of the team were very supportive and assisted the team in any way they could.
“Going into the final, the team were very confident that they could win the final.
“The team has really made the school proud.”
“The message before the finals was that the school will be celebrating its 125-year anniversary, so they have to win it for the school,” he said.
“Secondly, they have to also think of their parents, the sacrifices they have made by providing meals for the boys when they were in camp, ice for ice bath, etc.
“Lastly was that they should have a story to tell after the game, so they have to execute our game plan in order to create history. Hats off to the boys.”
FSSRL media officer, Lai Corerega said in the past the competition was only held for the Southeast Zone schools.
“Ba Methodist is the first from the Western Fiji Secondary School Rugby League Zone to win the competition,” Mr Corerega said.
“Previous winners included the Marist Storms, the Nasinu Panthers, the QVS Knights and the RKS Eels.”
