A gold medal that Samoa was never expecting from the Pacific Games has shown up at our doorstep.
The women’s cricket team weren’t even supposed to be in Papua New Guinea, let alone walk away as champions.
“Cricket in Samoa is a minor sport.
The government didn’t even have any faith in us, they said this is one sport that shouldn’t go.”
These are the words of Stella Siale Vaea, the General Manager of the Samoa International Cricket Association. But with her and her boards convincing, the girls were able to travel abroad because they knew they would be competitive.
“The criteria from the government stated that you can only take teams that can win a medal. So the board decided to just send the women’s team.”
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They not only did it the hard way off the field, but also on it.
“We had a lot of injures. The doctor came to me the day before the semi final and said one of the girls couldn’t play because she had a torn muscle in her shoulder. They went out there with their guts... most of them were injured.”
P.N.G was the resounding favourite to claim the trophy in front of their home fans, but someone forgot to tell Stella.
“Gold medal (was the goal), right from the start.”
“P.N.G came to Samoa in May to play four games, and we lost all four.
It was quite obvious when we were in P.N.G that they thought they would be the gold medal winners.”
The hosts became even more confident when they rolled Samoa in the preliminary round, which led to their eventual downfall as it sparked Samoa’s players, according to Stella.
“It was good for us to lose that game. It allowed us to sit back and refocus, and we came out stronger and hungrier for it. “They were very, very shocked they lost.”
The female team that went to the games was made up of 12 players, eight of whom play their cricket in Samoa. The other four are based in Auckland after receiving scholarships from a prestigious club in New Zealand.
Stella hopes that this is the case for all of her players in the future.
“That’s the main goal, players getting to overseas clubs. So then they are able to help out their families and villages back home.
There are no superstars in this team; every player contributes evenly in trying to attain success.
“The good thing about this team is that everyone can bowl and everyone can bat. There is not best bowlers and best batters, I had the confidence in the team that they can bat and bowl as well as each other.”
The youngest player in the side only just turned fourteen, yet it is hard to keep talent like this from applying their athletic ability in other sports.
“The problem we have here is we are fighting with the same pool of players. They play rugby in the rugby season and soccer in the soccer season,” stated Stella.
Yet with more government support and financial assistance, there is no reason why this can’t be the beginning of a ‘golden generation’ for female cricket in Samoa.
“We feel that there is inequality in terms of funding for sports. If they want to develop all sports equally they should reconsider the funding.”
“I want them to be the leading East Asian cricket team. I also want the girls to secure futures for themselves in cricket. Whether it be as players, coaches or development officers.”
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