Balancing studies and football is not easy for 18-year-old Fiji women’s football midfielder Adi Litia Bakaniceva.

The Tailevu Naitasiri player took up the sport at the age of 10 and has been juggling her school work, training and playing on weekends for the past eight years.

She says it took a lot of sacrifices to finally find a balance.

“It was quite hard but with the help of my teachers, I get to study a lot and they gave me extra notes. I balanced my studies with my training with all my sacrifices and the support from my family.”

The Year 13 student of Vunimono High School is part of the national women’s 26-member squad for the OFC Women’s Nations Cup.

Fiji faces the Solomon Islands in its first group match on Thursday night at 7 at the HFC Bank Stadium in Laucala Bay, Suva.

They meet New Caledonia on Sunday also at 7pm.