SOLOMON ISLANDS VERY OWN FOOTBALL LEGEND

Football is a game full of passion, dedication and motivation. In order to succeed in this sport, one must have these exceptional qualities. For Solomon Islands, there have been a lot of football heroes come and go but one that remains the center of the hearts of many Solomon Islands football fans is the one and only Henry Samuel Luito’o Fa’arodo or Ju Fa as he is commonly known. The player who have graced the national uniform for Solomon Islands football team all his playing life is regarded not only by Solomon Islands but the whole of Oceania as one of the best in the pacific.

                     

Henry Fa’arodo attended Nelson College from 2000 to 2001, playing for the school’s first eleven and he also was a member of the Nelson Suburbs club outside school football. Amongst the few of Solomon Islands who have made it to top flight football in Australia, Henry was one of them playing for the top-flight football club Perth Glory and for the Melbourne Knights in the old NSL.  Henry Fa’arodo have made such a positive impact to the pacific football and now every Solomon Islands youth footballers admire him and regarded him as their legend and a model to follow. The Solomon Islands team captain may have a very aggressive approach in games but in person, he is one of the kindest individuals around. Currently, Henry is a member of the Western United football club in the Top league in Solomon Islands. I was fortunate to have a close up interview with the legend himself and get into the mind of the most influential player in Solomon Islands and also the whole of Pacific.

What got you into football?

For me it is not what got me into footy. It is who. And it is my dad’s involvement in football. So I respect my dad a lot for introducing me to this beautiful game.

What do you find in football growing up that steers you to keep going?

I have always dream of playing football. I believe being able to follow my dad to training when he was involved with Rangers football club in the late 80s and early 90s has helped steered me to love the game more. Also what steers me as I grow up was that I realized I have a talent to go further in this career. And with dedication, commitment, passion and determination to make it in football also steers me. Also I always challenge myself to be better in what I do. And so I have the habit to set individual goals and aims to achieve. And I always make sure my goals a realistic.

What is your best moments in football to date if you could choose 3 best moments?

1. Signing my first Pro contract with Perth Glory.

2. Being part of the Solomon team that drew with Aussie.

3. Being the captain of Solomon Islands football team.

When you are regarded as the best player in the Solomon Islands and the Pacific, do you feel any pressure to live up to standards?

Of course I feel the pressure to perform especially. But I use it to drive myself. To motivate myself. I always find ways to push myself to be a better player.

I understand you have been there and done almost everything, what are your goals now in football?

I am now in my transition period in my football career. I love football. I would like to be still involved. My goals now for the future will be to be involved in coaching. Get my qualifications and hopefully one-day coach the Solomon Islands senior team.

I would also like to coach overseas.

You have been with the national team for many years, what is something you find about the national team that excites you?

One thing for sure is walking into the dressing room, putting on the green, yellow n blue strip. And that moment you walked out in front of my home crowd. That excites me. And when I sing the national anthem that would be one of my proudest moment.

You have been called many nick names in your footballing days, which one is the one you almost feel like it is your official name?

It’s got to be – JuFa

If you we not playing football, what do you see yourself doing now?

Wow!! If I don’t play football I would see myself working as a teacher, or a lecturer or maybe a motivational speaker. Tough call for me.

What do your girls (daughters) think of you as a top footballer?

If u ask my girls what I do for a living, they will tell you "my papa plays football". The other day my eldest daughter who is 7 came home and we asked her what she did at school. She said "we did drawing and coloring" I asked to see what she did, she showed me an A4 size paper with a man kicking a ball into the goal and there’s a caption "papa winning goal"

Your word of advice for young Solomon Islands footballers.

Have a dream. Set yourselves realistic goals. Believe in yourself and your ability. Remember - Talent can only take u so far, HARD WORK will take you anywhere.

The inspirational Solomon Islands captain who also is a Christian really is confident that it is with God’s help and his determination that have pushed him through the years to become who he is now. Henry Fa’arodo will always be regarded as one of the best footballers the Solomon Islands have ever produced and also an ambassador of footballer from the Pacific Islands.

picture of Fa'arodo playing for Western United was taken by VanuFoot.

MEDIA CARRYING IDENTITIES TO THE WORLD

Media and identity is two different objectives but they both a linked together to portray a specific representation. Identity above all is not fixed but it is actually created to suit a particular individual. The media is one of the most powerful tool that constructs identity for the society. The media present representation of reality and this is what we call identity. In identifying identity, there are many aspects of the subject that one needs to consider and in these two particular music video ‘Love generation by Bob Sinclair and We are the world by US for AFRICA, the link of identity is quite obvious and through the important aspect of the media, we can identify them.

First music video “Love Generation” by Bob Sinclair is one of the most intriguing music video of all time because the main character in the music video was not the singer but a young boy who seemingly travels the whole world on his bike. In this particular scene, the camera shot is of a full setting and shows all the characters in the music video. The main character is central which shows that he is the main character and the other children were spread out both sides with different ethnicities. The song also states that this is the love generation and in this particular scene, there is a sense of unity because all of these children are of different backgrounds but all engaging with themselves. It is quite refreshing to also identify that the scene is also balance in gender as the children in the background are girls and also boys. The real message of love generation can definitely be seen in this as the boy become the main character and he is witnessing the love generation. This particular music video implements positive values to the audience and the viewers can really relate to this particular music video.

The second music video is the most well-known music video in the world and it is “We are the world” by USA for Africa. Although the main character that everyone looks forward to see is Michael Jackson, the main theme behind this song is exceptional. We are the world and the song literally have been sung by different variety of USA singers which makes it even special. The singers are both African American and European American both genders singing alongside each other and fulfilling their actual song purpose which to implement that we are the world together.

The camera shots of the singers are mostly close ups as they have to show the real identity of the singers and the viewers can relate to them and all the lyrics they sing. It is probably one of the most effective way of actually seeing the emotions from these amazing singers. I believe this also symbolizes unity is needed in the world to make it better and to make it much happier. The singers are all united to sing this song giving hope to the people who watched and listened. There is gender balance, there is also an incredible message in the song and it was powerful indeed.

For these two important music videos, they both are different genre of music but still they portray something similar and that is basically identity. The amazing idea of identities is relevant in any society and these two music videos have definitely passed this positive idea that our identities may vary in different ways but we ought to have unity and prosperity together as one people. Indeed, there is some form of stereotyping involved but they were positive ones and in the first song the most obvious stereotyping was of the boy riding the bike. It is quite common for young boys to ride their bicycles around and for the second music video a stereotype of artist recording in a studio but the songs used these stereotyping in a positive way to give the audience a connection with the song because they can tell that the reality is present in the songs.

Indeed, media have definitely construct the identities of our society and have dramatically engage all of us audience in accepting the identities it offers. What can we do without media? Well for now, the answer would simply be nothing can be done without media’s influence.

picture one is of Love Generation song by Bob, 

the main character the boy riding the bike is riding past his friends

pictures 2 & 3 are of a African american male vocalist and a European american female singer in the famous song "we are the world".

ANTHONY TALO LAYS IT ALL ON THE FLOOR

Solomon Islands is a pacific island nation known for its vibrant sporting culture and one of the sporting events that Solomon Islanders are so interested in is football. For many years, Solomon Islands have enjoyed some competition football years in the pacific and although Australia and New Zealand have always been the top nations, Solomon Islands is always a force to reckon with when it comes to football. In the recent years, the development of the smaller code of football known as futsal have taken the pacific by storm. The Solomon Islands are regarded as the “Brazilians of the pacific” when it comes to this code of football. Skillful, mesmerizing and creative were just some of the words given to express how good Solomon Islands were in the game of futsal.

For many Solomon Islanders, futsal is a game which brings joy and happiness having the opportunity to watch their local heroes take on the big names in the world. For one particular individual, futsal is his life and he has made a remarkable name for himself and his country by scoring Solomon Islands winning goal against Guatemala in their last world cup game in the 2012 FIFA Futsal World cup edition in Thailand. Anthony Talo who hails from Malaita Province is one of the most incredible and talented goal keepers in the modern Solomon Islands football generation. He has featured in the Beach Soccer world cup as a player, played goal keeper for Solomon Islands 2015 club champions Solomon Warriors who also represented Solomon Islands in the Oceania Club Champions and is the former number one goal keeper for Solomon Islands futsal team known as Kurukuru. A young lad but already have achieved more than average Solomon Islands footballers have achieved. He was truly on a verge of making some remarkable history for Solomon Islands in Columbia when something unexpected happened and the nation was in shocked as Anthony Talo decided to depart the team days before the futsal world cup in Columbia.

Many Solomon Islanders wonder what actually happened to this young talent and many rumors and even false stories have been circulating the Solomon Islands and even the social media. Anthony Talo watched secretly and supported his fellow country men in the Kurukuru team as they endured a very positive tournament indeed. Now Mr Talo have confidence and I was lucky to do this interview with the goal keeper himself.

What is futsal for you and how do you feel to be one of the best goal keepers in Solomon Islands?

Futsal to me is a game of skills and creativity, it involves a lot of quick decisions and also good communication. I love futsal because it is similar to another game I play which is beach soccer. I am humbled when people think of me as the best goal keeper in Solomon Islands because for me, I just wanted to play and enjoy myself.

What was the reason behind your sudden departure from Kurukuru?

First of all, to all the people reading this interview. I love Kurukuru and I love Solomon Islands but the reason I left the team was something I feel is right at that particular time and it is quite personal to me. I apologies for not openly say it out during my leave because it was something personal. I had an argument at home and it affected me a lot. It started to show when we have our friendly match against Australia, I wasn’t performing to my best because I was sick as a result of the argument I have in my home. I apologies but it is too personal so that is all I can say.

How did you approach the team management to leave?

I have simply told the team management that for the good of the team, I have to leave the team. I was not performing well and I know I would not be able to perform 100% in the world cup which would be a sad thing for me and most importantly, I do love my team and do not wish to disturb the team with my issue. I have done what I believe is right and asked to leave. The team management did everything to try and persuade me and I respected them but this personal reason was something worth solving before the world cup so I have decided to return and they respected my decision too.

                                                                                         

How did SIFF reacted to this sudden move by you?

Well, I guess they have done what any other footballing body would’ve done. I have explained to them my situation and everything according to my understanding and I was hoping for something good but they have issued me a letter for me to retire from International duties as a player and so I have obliged to sign it because I do not have any other options for me. It is sad and I feel really sad too, I do not blame anyone but what happened to me is something that just did and I have no control over it. I thought I did the right thing.

What is your apology to the Loving futsal fans from Solomon Islands?

I know a lot of people do not get the reason behind my departure and for some reason have already hated me. I hereby humbly apologize and ask for the Solomon Islands public to forgive me for what I have done especially not going with the team to the FIFA World cup in Columbia. I shed tears about it too but I have to attend to my problem because I also have the right intention for Kurukuru to perform well without any interference. I am so sorry Solomon Islands.

What are your future plans?

For me personally, football, beach soccer and futsal were my three major contributing factor to the nation. If I am not allowed to play internationally, I would definitely be involved in football and play domestically in the club level and look to develop other future prospects. I would love to play again for Solomon Islands but unfortunately I won’t be able to do so anymore. God bless.

In conclusion to the interview, It is quite sad to see this young lad pause for a minute and then smiled again and we continue our conversation. Anthony Talo was laying it all on the floor and he is quite sad to not be able to represent Solomon Islands again in the international level but he encouraged young youths to follow their dreams and make right decisions all the time. Sometimes things will not be 100% acceptable but if it is something that will benefit you then do take it.

For Solomon Islands, this recent world cup was a sign for the government and football body to work together and establish a proper futsal home so that some more future talented goal keepers can be trained and conditioned for the future of the game.