Utah Youth Rugby (UYR) is through three rounds of its girls’ high school 7s season, and Provo has solidified itself as a championship contender. The Steelers are 9-3 and won the second leg of the series, beating United in the final. Last weekend, Provo advanced to its second-straight title match, and senior co-captain Jenalei Fifita was named MVP of the tournament.
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There are only two seniors on Provo’s roster, and Fifita sets the standard alongside backs captain Joy Baguinon. The duo has seen the team through some tough times, most notably when 16 players graduated at once, devastating the ranks.
“We had three girls showing up consistently for practice, during a 15s season. It was so hard,” Fifita said. “When a team falls apart or has to start from the bottom and lose every game until it can start winning again, people show their true colors. People left and filtered in and out. I don’t blame them, but Joy has always stayed by me.”
Today, Provo has 19 players on its roster, and most if not everyone followed a bloodline to the team.
“Deeply rooted, not recruited,” Fifita coined the familial ties.
Both of her grandfathers played rugby, as did her father, Inoke, the current head coach. But it was watching her mother’s friends play for the Provo Lady Steelers that truly inspired her.
“Since I was a little girl, my mom would just take us to every rugby tournament. I just loved the atmosphere,” the 17-year-old said. “Rugby is such a tough sport, and when you see all your aunties just dominating on the field, it’s so empowering. I look up to all of them.”
But it wasn’t an immediate fit. After playing soccer in middle school, her mother encouraged the then-6th grader to run around with the Orem Stallions.
“I hated it so much,” Fifita confessed. “I was younger than everyone else, but I was also a chubby kid and hated running.”
She played volleyball as a high school freshman but didn’t have much passion for the sport. Fifita’s older cousins were playing rugby and in spring 2017 encouraged her to reconsider the game with Provo. She reported to her first practice on a Friday, and played in her first game the following day.
“The coach said, ‘When you get the ball, just run,’ and I did. I scored three tries in my first game,” the 7s and 15s power forward said. “That was it. I loved the contact, and I loved when girls were hanging off me. That ignited a fire in me.”
Fifita remembers a slightly more social environment when she started playing with Provo but noted that her team captain always checked in with her to make sure she was O.K. When everyone graduated, she and Baguinon became the team around which the new squad formed.
“Last fall, we’d have six players at a tournament and play 6-v-7 until another teammate finished with her sports game and joined us,” Fifita said. “We played from 9 [a.m.] to 2 [p.m.] and with no subs – how did we do that?”
Iana Pulu, Hotaia Valeti and Laura Pulu joined the forward pack and fortified an intimidating scrum. Baguinon welcomed the talented Brighton Fonohema, Meilani Stanton and Lole Malupo to the back line, and this group of eight set a new foundation. The 2020 spring 15s season was canceled due to Covid-19, but UYR held an abbreviated summer 7s season that allowed players to run around.
“This fall, I’m speechless. There are so many committed players and everyone’s working their butts off,” Fifita said. “They play with their whole hearts. That’s all I want.”
Margaret Nautu, Puka Mageo, Talynne Iongi and Dillynn Matagi injected even more physicality to the pack, while the backs diversified its attack with the addition of Taimane Fiatoa, Lose Langi, Charlotte Hansen, Cami Ofahengaue and Tita Mila.
“My teammates are my everything. My whole heart,” Fifita said. “Whenever I feel burnt out or running on empty, literally all the stress and doubts and me feeling unmotivated go away once I see my team. I don’t think they know how much they hold me up.”
United won the first leg of the full-contact fall 7s series on Oct. 3, while Provo went 2-2. The following Saturday, the Steelers went 4-0 and defeated United 26-14 in the final.
“When we go against a team that swept 4-0 the previous tournament, we can step on the field without confidence. It’s like butterflies, but bad butterflies,” Fifita said. “I don’t know what came over us – maybe it was the 100 motivational talks we gave them – but they finally just believed we could do it. When the ref blew the final whistle, I broke down I was so proud of them.”
Fifita remembers the sidelines – how loud the bench cheered and the former Lady Steelers club players, now moms (including the original captain, Jenika Lua Iongi), celebrating their daughters.
“When we won, the girls were motivated more than ever to come to practice and keep our grind up,” she said. “We all go through crap and hard things, but with this win it really showed them that we can get through hard things together.”
In Round 3 on Oct. 24, Provo beat Wasatch, Brighton and Kearns / South Davis by a combined 105-5 during pool play, and then dropped a 21-12 decision to United in the final.
“We were still confident playing against United, but we knew dang well that they came here shooting for us,” Fifita said. “What lost our game was little mistakes. I still feel like our team totally has the potential to play them again, and I reminded the girls: There’s always going to be another tournament.”
Fifita was recognized as the tournament MVP.
“At the end of pool play, Jenalei had already scored six tries,” explained UYR Girls Commissioner Christine Yee, who selects the MVPs. “She’s a strong runner and, at times, deceptively quick. She can keep up with more speedy girls on the team to catch an offload and score. She is a student of the game – always asking the refs questions after the games and sharing the answers with her teammates. She plays hard, but I think her strength is her leadership. The team goes as she does.
“And everyone loves her,” Yee added. “Even girls from other teams. She’s a sweetheart.”
“I’m just a big ol’ crybaby and started tearing up,” Fifita recounted her reaction to the MVP nod. “I definitely played like how I wanted to play. The day before the other tournament, I guess I stayed too late for work and closed at 11:30 [p.m.]. My dad was really mad and made me quit my job. Then having these two weeks with no work, and just school and rugby, it got me into the zone where I could play better.”
As for team goals, Fifita is focused on retention, the simultaneous development of physical aptitude and rugby IQ, as well as a shot at the 7s title. Personally, the senior has renewed excitement for her future, now that she’s gaining traction with college coaches.
“I’m the oldest [child] and my parents don’t know how everything works, how to get your student-athlete into college with scholarships,” Fifita described some anxiety that marked the beginning of the school year. “I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but at one point, I didn’t get up from bed for a week-and-a-half. ‘I’m not going anywhere with my life,’”
United All-American and Harvard freshman Nafi Fitisemanu is one of several Salt Lake City-area alumnae who are playing high-level college ball right now, and her father knew how the system worked. He instructed Fifita to send him a highlight reel and transcripts, and that he’d help get the process started.
“Up until that point, I was looking at doing other things [after high school], and then the day after he sent out all my stuff, 4-5 colleges wanted to do a Zoom call,” Fifita said. “I started crying.”
Fifita has communicated with nine rugby programs thus far and has filed the majority of her early-decisions applications. She’s heading to Lindenwood University, where best friend Salote Iongi currently resides, in mid-November for a visit. She’s also excited by Central Washington University, which is located near a lot of family from Hawaii, American International College in Massachusetts, and Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.
“I love their coach, Rebecca [Carlson]. She has my heart,” Fifita said of the Bobcats. “And I know she’s an OG. I was talking with the Long Island [University assistant coach], Lindy [Wise], and she was saying that Rebecca was her coach in college!”
The experience ties back to Fifita’s current teammates, especially the talented freshman and sophomore classes. She’s encouraging them to compile highlight reels and essentially put college rugby in their purview. In the meantime, Fifita is just grateful for the rugby she has and wholly dedicated to the teammates who are committed to the team.
“I hope 2021 is just a big party, because this year was so hard,” Fifita closed. “But keep an eye on us. We’re coming up and working hard.”