So many times when Fiji rugby supporters would turn around and curse the rugby players when the team loses a competition. On the other hand, we smart to praise them when they win a tournament. In most cases asked the Government of the Day for a national holiday – think the last time was in 2005 when the Fiji 7s Team won the Honk Kong / 7s world cup which was captained by Serevi. The late Paul Tagivetaua always mentioned this in his rugby analysis.

What I am going to say is nothing new. Rugby critics always have a nail to hammer on the coffin. “Fiji team are not playing open style rugby that we are known for…”  “ so many basics mistakes” “ Team lack discipline” and so on and so forth.

I always say this …”mental, mental, and mental.” Rugby or any sport for that matter has gone to another level overseas. The element that could be the missing ingredient is the “mental preparation” of their sporting team. Sports greats even have their own Sports Psychologist or some people call them Sports Scientist as sports has gone from a past time to a career.

 “One of the greatest hitters of all time, Hank Aaron, attributed much of his success in baseball to his mental preparation–both before and during the game.

He was not a big advocate of the mechanics of baseball. Instead, he believed that mental preparation and doing his “homework” was the key to becoming a great, consistent hitter year after year.

Aaron was a master at studying the pitcher before games:

“I think about how a guy mentally prepares himself to do battle, to go out and face the pitcher. I think so many hitters do not know how to get themselves prepared to play or hit against a pitcher. You have to mentally be prepared to hit against all pitchers,” Aaron said (Hanson, 1991).

"I went into a cocoon for 15-20 minutes before each game. This was my quiet time, my preparation time. I focused on the pitcher and how he would try to get me out. I would envision getting a hit off the pitcher,"
~Wade Boggs

Boggs, like Aaron, went to the movies in his mind to preview and visualize a plan for what was to come, which is a hallmark of champion athletes. ( Hanson, 1991).

“You may not remember this....During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, a very small mental error cost shooter Matt Emmons the Olympic gold medal.

He lost this once-in-a-lifetime award because the stress winning a gold medal caused him to miss a critical step in his routine - a mental breakdown - before he executed his final shot.

With a commanding lead going into the final shot, Emmons forgot to check the number on the target he was supposed to shoot! Not only was this an embarrassing mistake, but one that carried a costly consequence—the loss of the Olympic gold medal!”

With those examples above, we as Fiji Supporters then need to zoom into what is the real problem with our boys. We need to have mental coaches, to prepare them during training, before and during and after a game. If we want to compete at world class standard we must engage a Sports Psychology. I do not for sure whether Fiji Rugby Union has one as some of the things that happen on the field are signs that they do have mental weakness. A classic and recent example is at the South Africa 7s. After the Fiji Team has lost from England in the cup quarterfinal (Fiji 12 England 17). The team could not pull themselves and lost to Wales 49 – 0 to Fiji. If they were focused mentally they could have scored a try or even beat Wales. They have mentally lost the plot since they have been relegated to the Plate category.

Now with this identified, what can we do as Fiji team Supporters? We can target 200 die hard fans and each fan contribute say $50 each to go towards a two year contract for a Sports Psychologist to train our boys mentally. These supporters then can have a face book page and they can elect a Fiji based Committee to monitor the performance of the appointed Sports Scientist.

Do we have anyone in Fiji? Yes we do. I have worked with two people before in the area of sports – Gaylene Osborne who is a Lecturer in Psychology in the University of the South Pacific and Master Joji Liga who is teaching at Nadi International School.  I worked with Gaylene Osborne with the Fiji Beach Volleyball Teams before and during the 2003 South Pacific Games and she took the Team's preparation to another level. The Ladies team won gold and Men's team won silver. For Joji Liga we worked closely with the Nadi Rugby 2007 and 2008 seasons. The  Nadi Rugby Team won all the trophies in the rugby season in Fiji. Those records speaks for itself on what mental preparedness could have a major influence in your performance on and off the field.

We need the appointed person to be part of the management team. He or she would travel with the team everywhere. Fiji Rugby Union has to support this project by meeting all the expenses in travelling, accommodation during tours. All other necessary paperwork could be done by the Nadi Rugby academy as in my view champion mental preparation in Fiji.

This is empowering the Fiji Supporters to put their money where their mouth is. What do you think if you are a ardent Fiji Supporter?? Are you in?? Let us know what you think!