The Pathway to becoming a Flying Fijian

Fly My Winged Child
Through the eyes of a FLYING FIJIAN mum

The Pathway for every Flying Fijian will always be different. But I think the common characteristics that they each hold are Self-belief, determination, perseverance and faith.

It was 2013, we were 2 years away from the 2015 Rugby World Cup (RWC) to be held in England and rugby fans all over the world were excited. Here in Australia there was so much buzz in the air as to who was going to make the Wallaby squad and no doubt there was much discussion about the makeup of the Flying Fijians. For the Volavola family, many discussions were held between Ben, his brother and I about whether he would work towards trying to make the Wallaby squad or try out for the Flying Fijians.

There were friends and coaches in the rugby circles who encouraged Ben to keep working towards a green and gold jersey and there were some who would talk to me directly asking me to encourage Ben to pick the green and gold over the black and white. They all meant well but it had to be a decision that Ben was ultimately happy with.

Eventually Ben met with John McKee and the rest is history.

Ben put his hand up to try out for a Flying Fijian spot and in July 2015 he made his first appearance off the bench for the Flying Fijians.

But the journey to securing a black and white jersey didn’t come as easy as some may think.

Only a year before his selection, Ben had encountered an injury during a training session with the Waratahs which had him out for 4 months. Although he recovered from it, getting back on the field was more a mental challenge for him than it was physical.

I seriously don’t know how these players do it, but there seems to be an inner strength, a spirit of determination, perseverance and endurance that allows them to always rise above these challenges and come back fighting. This was our Ben.

When we first left Fiji in January 2000, Ben an 8-year-old who was days away from his 9^th birthday disliked being here. He missed his friends and cousins and I can only imagine blamed me for disrupting his life. But I had made my own sacrifices with a clear objective in mind that this move was to give my children a better life once I completed my studies. In hindsight I am so glad I stuck to my guns.

Our first year in Australia was tough. I had to ensure that my children were at a school close by to where we lived and that there was either myself or my mum always available to pick them up from school. Eventually we got into a routine and Ben now a 9-year-old turning 10 had to be the responsible big brother to ensure he and his brother always got home safely and would wait for either my mother or I to get home.

Ben has always been so calm and patient in nature. It took him a whole year before he started asking me to look for a rugby club which I did when he turned 10.

But it was what he would do off the field that made me wonder about his future in the sport. I observed moments of brilliance when he was on the field which had first got me thinking. But it was what he did at home which made me think a lot more about his future in the sport.

In his bedroom on his wall, Ben would have a handwritten list of goals that he would set for himself and would cross them off every time he achieved one. These goals would include 1. Win a Grand final for Southern Districts 2. Make 1^st Grade in the Shute Shield competition 3. Play alongside Wallaby players 4. Make the Australian U20’s team and so on and so forth. It made me realise that unless you set yourself some goals life would seriously look like a maze.

But the higher he would rise in the rugby circles, the more challenging it became. Not just physically but also mentally.

During his time playing Super Rugby, Ben always played second fiddle to someone, but it would not break his fighting spirit to keep him from chasing his dream. It would frustrate him as it would anyone, but he had to trust in the process and in the Lord that got him there in the first place.

The one thing that I know people love about him is his character and how he chooses to not ‘sweat the small stuff.’

The many times he would have had to deal with rejection but not succumb to it was what made me so proud. Ben was already a Fiji capped player when he first started with the Crusaders. He had signed a two year contract and was advised that he was going to be coming in as a possible replacement for the number 10 position. But things changed when he got there and was relegated to the reserve bench. In hindsight, I guess if I was the coach I would have done the same thing to Ben. You would want to give your NZ based players first options given the idea is to create a depth of players for your national team.  As much as he had a two year contract and was offered to stay to see it through, Ben knew that in order to grow, you would need time on the field. So with Razor's blessings he left. 

By the way I still love the Crusaders and there is no bad blood here!

I've always thought to myself that you have to have thick skin and mental toughness to not let decisions that disappoint you keep you down. In 2015 leading up to the RWC an article was released by the Courier Mail here in Australia.  It read "Snubbed Wallaby, Ben Volavola set to shine for Fiji". I thought to myself, I know it is only an expression but seriously? Snubbed? 

These are only a few examples of the types of challenges that Ben or any other professional sports person are subjected to. So at the end of the day, it is your character that will determine how you handle this.  For Ben though, it has been his resilience , faith and love for the game that has kept him going.

D L Moddy an American Evangelist and publisher captures character so brilliantly.

 “Out of our character comes our conduct!” and “if you take care of your character, your reputation will take care of itself.” Two remarkable statements that go a long way for any elite sporting individual let alone ourselves.

When Ben ran out for the first time as a Flying Fijian against the Maori All Blacks in July 2015, I couldn’t have been prouder. I had flown in on the morning of the game excited to watch him make his debut. It was another chapter in his life that I wanted to share with him because I knew how much he had worked so hard for this and what he had given up. For us, this was the beginning of something special!

Ben at his first RWC 2015

So, your Flying Fijian has had several hurdles to conquer but this has not deterred him from continuing with pursuing his dream and to becoming the best he can be.

Rejection, injury and disappointments could have stopped him from his dream, but he chose to be an overcomer. He took these hurdles and used it as fuel to help him fulfill his dreams and that was to first become a Flying Fijian and then play at his first Rugby World Cup in 2015. He did both.

Next Chapter: Memories of the RWC 2015