The amazing story of a group of women who made history in Samoa when they accepted a challenge by the men to race against them.
Twenty years after I entered the sport , the Marist men of Samoa threw down an epic challenge to me on the 7th October 2020. Bring an all women's team and race against our 4 house teams of men.
I don’t think the Marist Association of Samoa appreciated how massive the impact of their challenge was to the women of Samoa.
THE CHALLENGE
How do you get an all-women’s longboat team to race against the 4 college houses of Marist men...when there are NO women in the sport simply because it was taboo. Not to mention the myriad of other major problems...
- I had NO all women’s team!
- No sponsor! Longboat racing is super expensive.
- Not enough Time: we had 3 and half weeks to get a crew, train and race
- No drummer! Super important! Because the drummer beats out the stroke rate that the skipper asks for at any moment during the race.
- Longboat was built for light young men
- Handicap? Will the men give us a handicap like in the game of golf? Or do we start at the start line with the men?
There were entrepreneurs, mothers, CEOs of private companies and government ministries, students, expatriates, farmers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers – we were a colourful lot. And none had ever been on a longboat. Because it was taboo to women!
Did we get a handicap? Find out in the video.
Enjoy … and please help me share this video with your families and friends as testament to the unbelievable courage of women under pressure....and our Fautasi o Toa warriors.
#courage, #leadership, #belief, #womenwarriors, #innercourage
#doyou, #fautasi, #strength, #unbelievable
@TheZitaMartel