IT’S no wonder Ana Maria Roqica is the skipper of the women’s 7s rugby team.
Unlike many of us, she has been hearing the shrill of a whistle ever since she was just a few months old.
And the whistle was to summon her mother, Makarita who was at that time training with the Nabukavesi home team.
“My Ana Maria was just a baby then and I was part of the Nabukavesi women’s rugby 7s team that was going to play in the Marist 7s,” Makarita said.
“She was only a few months old and my father was against me playing rugby as she was still a baby. Ana’s dad was in the Middle East at that time.
“So, every time Ana cried when I was out training, he would blow the whistle and I would know straight away that I needed to go and feed or change her.”
But the sporting gene is also from Ana’s paternal side. Her father, Iosefo Roqica was a national under-21 rep in soccer and another cousin Junior Roqica was a member of the Fiji Bati.
Her first cousin, Rusila Nagasau is also in the national women’s 7s team for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Another first cousin is former 7s and current XVs rep Benito Masilevu. These sporting reps’ fathers are all brothers hailing from Savusavu.
“It was a proud moment for all of us when Ana and Rusila were selected,” Makarita said.
“Ana was very sportive from a very young age. She would play almost every sport and it was not a surprise when she took up rugby.”
Ana Maria also competed in the sprints in the Coke Games for Lomary Secondary School.
Being the eldest in the family, leadership comes naturally to Ana.
“She has always helped us in everything and she always looks out for her younger siblings,” Makarita said.
“She has never done anything to make us angry.”
A tough cookie in camp and on tour, Ana is known to have imposed strict rules such as banning her team members from social media and confiscating their phones to ensure this rule is not broken.
“It happened when we played in Brazil for the World Sevens Series this year. It was just after Tropical Winston and I saw that the girls were very affected by what was happening at home.
“We lost all our pool matches so I took all their phones so they could concentrate on the tournament,” Ana Maria said.
While Ana may not be the fittest in the team, she makes this up through her leadership and of course skills on the field.
Coach Chris Cracknell pointed her out as one of the standouts in the side.
When in camp, Ana Maria ensures her players are on time for meals, training, gym sessions and lotu. Fiji is in the same pool as USA, Australia and Colombia.
“We will try and do our best as we would be the first team in Fiji to contest for a medal at the games,” Ana Maria said.
