Tafuna’s 2019, a Year of Goals Achieved

It wasn’t too long ago that Liz Tafuna was leaving home in her basketball kit, telling her parents she was heading to the court to practice, but really booting up for rugby practice. Now a senior at Woods Cross High School (Salt Lake City), Tafuna spent the next three years not only wooing the support of her family, but also deciphering the pathway to the Girls’ High School All-Americans (GHSAAs) and the preparation necessary to ensure success when opportunities arose.

“My parents and I joke about that today,” Tafuna reminisced over freshman-year antics. “Usually when teenagers sneak out, they’re going to parties, but I was going to rugby practice.”

Tafuna’s entire family is from New Zealand and so the 17-year-old knows rugby. Her parents, whom Tafuna described as more traditional Polynesians in terms of familial roles, didn’t want their only daughter playing rugby. Tafuna played volleyball and basketball, and then freshman year, Kau Toa started training two blocks from home.

Tafuna couldn’t resist and practiced, undetected by her parents, for two months – until the call for CIPP dues arrived. The high schooler had to confess, but sold the involvement with rugby as conditioning and tracking work for basketball.

“But the more I saw the rugby pitch, the less I wanted to see the basketball court,” Tafuna said.

She started with Kau Toa until the girls’ team folded midway through sophomore year, and then Ally Samani reached out with a plea for a new team: East High School. Tafuna bit and launched a recruitment campaign that filled East’s roster with rookies. Tafuna played an integral role during that 2018 Utah Youth Rugby Fall 7s Series, which ended with a victory over United and 7s trophy. Read more.

“At the time, I saw it as a great opportunity to introduce rugby to girls who have never played before and to an area where it didn’t exist,” Tafuna said of her time with East. “But at times I was asking, ‘Was this the smartest move for me?’ I was trying to coach instead of trying to get better as a player, and I knew I wasn’t where I wanted to be [as a player]. ‘Is this helping me in the end?’ I do not regret it all – so many girls have joined that they had to split into two teams in that area, and have 20 girls on each team. They all came through East.”

Ultimately, Tafuna switched to United Rugby Club, a high-functioning, perennial NIT Club contender, and the realignment coincided with a personal turning point.

“I can tell you the exact date: November 17, 2018,” Tafuna pinpointed the moment she formed and committed to a plan. “Invitations for the Girls’ High School All-American Winter Camp were being sent out, and players I knew from tournaments were getting invited. I didn’t know how any of that stuff worked, and at that time, I didn’t think rugby was that big past high school.”

Tafuna’s research revealed a network of select sides, Regional Cup Tournaments (RCTs), summer assemblies, international matches, as well as physical and skill standards for an aspiring national team player.

“A whole new world opened up,” Tafuna said. “There was all this opportunity out there that I didn’t know about and was missing out on. So I decided that I wasn’t going to miss out anymore.”

She took out a Sharpie and wrote the date on her wall and signed it, so she’d see it every day and be reminded of the promise she made to herself: Do everything in your power to position yourself for an invitation this time next year. [Today, that date is covered with rugby jerseys because, “My mom would kill me if she knew I was writing on the walls.”]

Tafuna vowed to work every day and focused on the variables she could control: skills. She made a goal of 150 passes left and right every day, and if she didn’t have a partner, she’d set up chairs as targets. She looked up speed and agility drills, and since she didn’t have cones, she used paper plates. When she needed some inspiration, she looked to Orlando Pulou.

“He was my first coach from Kau Toa and he stuck with us through all the years,” Tafuna said of the Utah Lions coach. “He was good at knowing each player really personally and knowing what they needed, so whenever we wanted extra training in preparation for a big tournament, he’d help. He’s good at making sure that the things we did well were highlighted on the field so others could see it. He’s genuinely concerned with how we’re doing and giving us stepping stones to succeed.”

Tafuna joined the Utah Cannibals for the state all-star team’s tours to Road Runner 7s (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and LVI 7s (Las Vegas), and then entered the Utah Lions’ system with a selection to the Tropical 7s (Orlando) squad. Tafuna met more coaches at these tournaments and invites to other select sides followed. After United repeated as the Utah Youth Rugby 15s champion, the High School Club National Invitational Tournament (NIT) came to Salt Lake City. United finished third, and a national selector noted Tafuna’s performance.

Tafuna, who typically plays wing and occasionally center in 15s, knew that selections to the All-Americans went through the RCTs, and that there were two venues in Colorado and Idaho for the West. She made friends in Colorado and took same-day, roundtrip flights for training before competing in the Rocky Mountain Challenge. She then traveled with the Cannibals to the Great Northwest Challenge in Boise. The efforts paid off and Tafuna received an invite to the July GHSAA West Camp in Canada.

“I set into the mindset that I’ve done the work, I’ve done the training, I just need to fall back on my skills to keep confident. I should be comfortable here,” Tafuna managed the intimidation that comes with a first All-American assembly. “Getting there was a testament to the hard work paying off. There’s still so much to do but that was the start.”

Tafuna’s 2019 didn’t slow and she joined the Rhino Rugby Academy at the World Youth Rugby Festival (Irvine, Calif.), Utah Lions at NAI 7s (Salt Lake City), North American Lions to the Paris World Games, and Atlantis at New York 7s. In between, the senior was visiting college campuses and rugby programs, sometimes away from home 2-3 weeks at a time.

“I actually didn’t realize I achieved my goal,” Tafuna said when the invite to the 2019 GHSAA Winter Camp arrived. “I got caught up in the opportunities coming up and the go-go-go of it all, but then I looked at Facebook Memories from a year ago and there’s a photo of me with my paper plates training in the snow.

“When I look back at that moment, I was more in a place where I was – not angry, but I’ll use that word for now – that things weren’t happening for me right away,” Tafuna reflected on her 2018 turning point. “Now I’m able to see that everything I went through was necessary to be ready for this. I wouldn’t have been prepared otherwise and the timing worked out great. The opportunities will come, and when they do, you’ll be ready for it.”

En route to a campus visit in Washington, Tafuna received a text from Ziluca extending an invitation to the ARPTC team heading to the mid-December Barbados World 7s tournament.

“Josie Ziluca is the other one,” Tafuna said of influential coaches in addition to Pulou. “I didn’t play under her until France [with the North American Lions] and from then on she’s mentored me and showed me a whole other side of the game. … She’s another one of those people who is concerned for you as a player and person as well, and gives you insight to help you grow.”

Tafuna was so excited that she didn’t ask any questions about the team or fixture, and just accepted the invite.

“They released the roster and I’m reading these names – Eagles, people I’ve met on college visits, or players I’ve looked up to and are pushing the game forward. I got so nervous,” said Tafuna, one of two 17-year-olds, next to Alex Wantlin, on the senior team. “Would I fit in this roster or hold them back, or be the sore thumb who slows up practice and makes it hard to move on?”

Whatever her nerves, Tafuna took advantage of the chance to learn from internationally tested players, and ARPTC won the tournament.

“It was such a rare opportunity,” Tafuna said. “I’m so blessed to be exposed to that environment and be 17. I can use what I learned from players who have been on world-class stages and still grow on top of that.”

Two weeks later, Tafuna reported to the GHSAA Winter Camp and was moved into the loose forwards. Leading up to the Canada U18 match, she was slated to play flanker and then moved to No. 8 late in the assembly.

“I was excited because I love contact and I worked a lot on my tackling, and I knew that was something I could really offer and bring to the table,” Tafuna said of the move from wing. “It was also nerve racking. I only had 3-4 days there, and it’s all new processes and a whole other side of the field. But everything I went through the whole year prepared me to adapt, even against a team like Canada.”

Tafuna did not show an ounce of anxiety against the Canada U18s. Her aerial skills showed well during the kickoffs and restarts, and she always gained meters after the first contact with the defense. She injected nice physicality on both sides of the ball, looked for the offload, scored a try, and earned forward MVP. The USA took a 24-14 halftime lead before falling 29-24 to the visitors. Read more.

Tafuna ended 2019 achieving the goal she laid out a year ago, and while that accomplishment was satisfying, she emerged from the experience more mature and with real insight into motivation.

“It’s crazy, because the initial push for these daily trainings and getting better started as a way for me to compete with others. I made it into a competition of people around me,” Tafuna spoke to the transformation. “But I didn’t start progressing until I stopped competing to compare – that didn’t get me anywhere. I stopped competing with what other people had or with what they were doing, and only worked to compete against and beat the person I was the day before.”

In 2020, expect to see Tafuna at the Los Angeles Invitational 7s and with United for the spring 15s season. The senior is also evaluating college rugby programs for a best fit, a place where she can continue to grow.

“I still have so much to learn in this sport and there’s more work to be done,” Tafuna ended. “It’s just been a great beginning.”

#LizTafuna GHSAA