“Remember to give thanks to the Lord when you rise in the morning and when you retire in the evening. Play hard and do Fiji proud. Hold your heads up high on and off the court and don’t hang your head should you be defeated . Be proud to represent your country.

Each of you individually are  ambassadors for Fiji. What you wear, what you say and how you perform will reflect on Fiji and its people. Listen to those in charge of you, your head of delegation, your manager, your coaches and your team captains and compete well” , was his message to the team.

The President also said that he was excited that this was the first women's basketball team to leave the Oceania shores to participate in another country like Spain.

After the message and a prayer the president put on morning tea for our contingent.

 

The “aitatau” is a tradition going back to when national representative teams first left our shores to compete overseas. Basically it is a traditional request from departing teams to the head of state to 1) depart Fiji and 2) to leave with his blessings and good wishes.