Fifty-seven players from various Fiji Secondary Schools rugby zones participated in a two-day screening event at the Fijian Drua base in Nadi this week. From this group, only 30 players will be chosen for the inaugural Drua Academy cohort.
Ben Takubu, the head of the Drua Academy program, shared that the players were assessed by a team of coaches including former Flying Fijians representatives and the Drua’s high-performance unit coaches, Naca Cawanibuka and Eroni Sotutu.
“We recruited widely from the Fiji Secondary Schools zones, including players from the northern, southern, and western divisions,” Takubu explained. The academy’s purpose is to retain local talent and minimize the risk of players being scouted by international teams.
The selected players are all 18 years old or younger, a critical age when many young athletes leave Fiji for opportunities abroad. “The academy serves to contract players under 18 from their respective schools and to aid in their skills development,” Takubu noted.
“We are grateful to have these talented young athletes and are eager to see the outcomes of this program,” he added. The screening also provided participants with an opportunity to observe the training sessions of the FIJI Water Flying Fijians at the facility.
Ultimately, the final 30 players will be contracted by the Drua.