Saint Vincent Eagles Wins Vodafone Soqoiwasa Trophy
Author : Fiji Rugby League
Fiji Secondary School-girls’ competition kicked-off to a great start in the Soqoiwasa 9s Tourney over the weekend. 15 teams from 10 South-eastern regional schools participated in the day-long tournament in front of a great cheering crowd.
St Vincent College Eagles from Tailevu emerged victors after an entertaining final winning 8 points to 6 against Naitasiri Panthers. St Vincent became crowd favourites for the Girls title from the quarterfinals when the Eagles defeated defending champions Lomaivuna Rabbitohs 6 points to nil.
The victors also cut-off a top form Lelean Bati from the race in a nail-biting contest during the semi-finals. The Eagles won 6 nil against the Bati while Nasinu Panthers toppled Namosi Warriors 4 nil.
Southeastern Zone President Penaia Qalituraga commended the support of communities from the ten schools that participated and players. “I’m truly proud of the girl’s game and how far it has come to what it is today.
The show of talent and budding skills and the lively support of our fans is really overwhelming.”
Mr Qalituraga looked forward to a bigger outfit next year and hopes that the FNRL will secure good financial support to take the girls game to the next level.
“We thank Vodafone Fiji for their support to the games. The girls game can be bigger than what it is today and hopefully, we can get more funding for the girls’ game from FNRL.”
The schoolgirl’s tournament is expected to grow into the future yet it presently lacks financial support to develop more players and improve the girls game.
All girls’ and women competitions naming rights and other sponsorship benefits for the tournament are still available. Acting CEO Don Natabe said that ‘there continues to be growing interest in women’s participation but the lack of appetite for financial sponsorship into women’s pathway is a matter of interest across all sports.
“While there is growing interest from communities and schools, we are faced with the challenge of securing partners who are genuinely interested in supporting female pathways,” Natabe said.
The FSSRL will introduce a new nationals format for the open grade girls’ competitions and release the girl’s fixtures in the new week.
FINALS SERIES RESULTS
Quarter Finals
Lomaivuna Rabbitohs 0 – 6 Saint Vincent Eagles
Naitasiri Panthers 6 – 0 AOG Sea Eagles
Lelean Bati 4 – 0 Ballantine Raiders (2)
Namosi Warriors 12 – 0 Ballantine Raiders (1)
Semi-Finals
Saint Vincent Eagles 6 – 0 Lelean Bati
Naitasiri Panthers 4 – 0 Namosi Warriors
Grand Final
Saint Vincent Eagles 8 – 6 Naitasiri Panthers
