Picture caption: BYU Cougars senior starting safety Raider Damuni is among the cohort visiting Nuku’alofa this week, hosted by the US Embassy in Tonga to promote football, education, and employment. Photo credit: BYU Cougars.
The United States Embassy in Tonga is using the power of football to engage with the Pacific nation’s communities and enhance partnerships between Tonga and the US through a shared love of the game.
Driven by its diaspora, Tonga has a rich history in American football, and Tongan footballers have made a huge impact on the game.
In 1986, Vai Sikahema became the first Tongan to play in the NFL, drafted as a running back and kick returner by the St. Louis Cardinals and the number of Tongan and other Pacific players grew from there, ensuring a “Polynesian pipeline” to the NFL via high school and college football teams throughout the US.
In efforts to continue the player pipeline and carve new pathways for budding athletes, while growing the game in the region, the US Embassy in Tonga is hosting a cohort from Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars football team in Nuku’alofa, from June 27-July 2.
Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim (CDA) in Tonga Devon Brown says the visit represents a major component of the Embassy’s upcoming flag football diplomacy efforts in the Kingdom of Tonga.
“In August, we are launching our US Flag Football Program in Tonga, where our aim is to expose the game to the region in advance of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, where flag football has been introduced as an official Olympic sport for the first time,” Devon says.
Highly anticipated visit
He adds this week’s BYU Cougars visit has many layers to it, including education and employment elements – and of course, boosting community engagement.
“This is a highly anticipated visit which includes BYU Cougars Coach Kalani Sitake returning to Tonga after decades in the United States.
“Born in Nukuʻalofa, he became the first head football coach from Tonga to coach in NCAA Division/Football Bowl Subdivision history, and his return to Tonga, joined by his father Tom, is a significant moment for the Tongan people.”
The BYU Cougars cohort have a solid program in place, including coach and player clinics on July 1, as well as community engagements including a visit to Ha’akame village.
Additionally, through the We Are One Foundation, BYU–Pathway Worldwide, and other partners, the cohort is helping connect education, workforce development, technology, and sport into sustainable opportunities for the people of Tonga, Devon explains.
“The cohort will attend the opening of the new Nukuʻalofa Employment Center, which is the embodiment of that vision.
“It is already supporting 86 people working remotely and is intended to expand to more than 300 work and study spaces.”
Devon says the outcomes from the visit are expected to be tenfold, including laying Coach Sitake laying foundations of a locally led football program that can continue and grow for years; and a demonstration of how American education, technology, businesses, and nonprofit organizations can work with Tongan partners to create jobs, develop skills, strengthen families, and grow Tonga’s economy.
“This is the type of partnership the United States values—one that invests in people, creates mutual benefit, and builds the local capacity needed for long-term US – Tonga bilateral relations,” he says.
Close ties to Tonga
Meanwhile, also making his first trip to Tonga with the cohort is BYU Cougars senior starting safety Raider Damuni, who is of Fijian and Hawaiian descent.
“My family has very close ties to the Tongan people,” Raider says.
“My grandparents were asked to move from Fiji to Hawai’i to help start the Fijian Village at the Polynesian Cultural Center and worked very closely with the people of Tonga there as well.”
Hoping to make a positive impact on the people of Tonga, Raider will be joined by his Tongan wife throughout the visit.
“I think as a team we want the people of Tonga to know that we represent them on Saturdays and want them to feel the love that we have for them.”
Most of the cohort are either Tongan or have connections to Tonga.
Follow BYU Cougars in Tonga on the Pasifika TV website, Facebook, and Instagram.