(Leap of Faith) Asinate Salawaqa Blake is no stranger to the sporting arena as the 19 year old first picked up a hockey stick five years ago. The young nippy striker lives in Vuci South Road, Nausori, which is quite far a distance to travel for the young lady. Blake as she is formerly known as to her team mates first took up the sport of hockey while in Lelean Memorial School and later went on to join the Marist Women’s Hockey Club in 2010. After playing for Marist for two years, Asinate moved to Ventures Hockey Club to further her hockey skills. Asinate first got chosen for the national team in 2012, where she was known as one of the fastest strikers of the tournament. Asinate is known for her speed, agility and unique scoring ability when under pressure. She was part of the team that beat the Australian Country side in 2012 and was the girl who sealed the deal and scored the winning goal which created history that year. Although the tiny striker is forever cracking jokes and making people laugh, she admits that staying far from Suva has brought about difficulties in her hockey career. “I have wake up 3 hours before the appointed time to be at training, just to find transport to get to Nausori Town and then to wait for another Mini Bus to take me to the turf” says Blake. Her parents give her a tight budget to work with every week and even though the stress of having to deal with that overcomes her mind, she believes that through her faith in God’s will she is able to make it to training every day. “Getting 30 dollars a week and trying to budget it to last the whole week is quite a struggle for me, but I always take a leap of faith in knowing that my God will provide for me no matter what, and he has never let me down so far” she says. When not training, Asinate spends a lot of time with her siblings and emphasises that her mother has always been her motivator through it all. “She pushes me through every hardship or trial I have faced, she never stops encouraging me with positive words and above all she always reminds me to rely on Jesus alone and keep the faith” says Asinate. Asinate is currently a student at the Fiji National University and is studying Agriculture Science and plans to be a Quarantine Officer (Bio Security) when she finishes with her diploma. Asinate chose Maxine Browne as her role model and hopes to one day live up to the standards that Maxine has set on and off the field. “She’s such a beautiful person inside and out, she always has a positive mind set and she is the type of player that keeps fighting till the end, I hope to be like her some day when I grow up” says Asinate. Asinate will feature in the upcoming Oceania Pacific Cup which begins on Saturday and will make her presence felt on the field, come game day! (Story by Catherine Thaggard, Melba Nautu and Maxine Browne) (Photo Credits to Kirk Corrie)
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 03:25:13 +0000
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