Mataiasi Stark 
The Votualevu Youth Rugby Club is turning rugby into a lifeline for children as the community battles a worsening drug crisis.
Club official Seremaia Visawaqa says reviving one of Nadi’s oldest clubs wasn’t just about bringing back tradition, it was about saving young lives.
He says too many children are being pulled into dangerous habits, and sport is one of the few proven shields that still works.
“This was one of the oldest clubs in Nadi and it used to produce a lot of great players back in the day but then it just disappeared. We decided to revive the club once again so we could join in the fight against drugs.”
Visawaqa says the club wants to offer more than talk—they want to offer real alternatives.
“We’re not trying to just preach about it but to actually do something about it so these kids are drawn away from drugs.”
The urgency has been driven home by the disturbing age profiles now being seen in Fiji.
“The youngest person to be involved in drugs in our country is a 7-year-old. And if we don’t do nothing now, it will be too late.”
Against that backdrop, tomorrow’s Nadi Junior Rugby Festival, featuring 95 teams from Under-8 to Under-18 in both boys’ and girls’ divisions, supported by Oceania Rugby, is more than a sporting event.
For Visawaqa and the Votualevu club, it is a statement of hope, structure and purpose for hundreds of young people who need it most.
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