Fijians, Too,

Have A Head

For Soccer

From L. J. Wilkinson,

in Lautoka For many years Indian sports men in Fiji have dominated the soccer pitches of the colony,

Fijians preferring their rugger

and cricket, and rarely turning

out to kick a conventional foot ball.

BUT in the past two seasons, April- August, more and more Fijians have been taking part in the game, many commanding top honours in representative matches. This culmi nated in seven Fijians being included in a district team that won Fiji soccer’s top trophy, the Lloyd- Farebrother Cup, at Lautoka in August at the Indian-dominated Fiji Football Association’s 30th annual inter-district tournament.

Sixteen teams battled for honours in a cup-tie atmosphere before record crowds. Over 12,000 crammed into the stadium for the final between Ba and Lautoka.

Ba, with seven Fijians in the side, won the trophy by one goal to nil.

A Fijian set up the winning shot for a fellow Fijian to crash past the opposing goalkeeper. That goal keeper was another Fijian, and the star of the series. It was the only goal he had allowed in the series.

None of this should really be any surprise.

Soccer is nothing new to the Fijians, the game being a regular feature of their recreation in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Hectic tournaments were staged in the colony’s old capital of Levuka.

Rugby took over

Then rugby was introduced to the colony, the Fijian taking to the game like youngsters to ice cream, probably because his war-like nature could be put to useful effect in the ruck and scrums and the tackle, a licence heavily penalised in the other sport.

The introduction of indentured Indian labour helped to accelerate the almost complete disappearance of the bushy-haired sportsmen from the soccer field. The game was domi nated by the Indian sporting asso ciations, the first national soccer body

being called the Fiji Indian Football Association, a title amended only in recent years.

Some of the colony’s district soccer associations have appeared reluctant to encourage too many Fijian players in representative play.

Not so Ba; they won the premier trophy last year and were all out to retain it, and if there had been an Eskimo worthy of a place in the side he would have been included.

Two Australian teams are expected to tour Fiji during the 1968 season, and soccer fans expect that a national team to oppose them will include Fijians.