Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Jaiyah Tauasuesimeamativa Saelua [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | July 19, 1988||
Place of birth | Leone, American Samoa [1] | ||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
Position(s) | Center back | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Ilaoa and To'omata | ||
Number | 3 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
Konica Machine | |||
Savage FC | |||
Lion Heart FC | |||
FC SKBC | |||
Ilaoa and To'omata | |||
International career‡ | |||
2004– | American Samoa | 15 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 July 2019 |
Jaiyah Tauasuesimeamativa Saelua (born July 19, 1988) is an American Samoan footballer who plays as a center back for the American Samoa national team.
Saelua is a faʻafafine, a third gender present in Polynesian society. [3] [4] She is the first openly non-binary and trans woman [5] to compete in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. [3] [6]
She was prominently featured in the 2014 documentary Next Goal Wins , about the American Samoa team, and the 2023 biographical comedy-drama also called Next Goal Wins directed by Taika Waititi, in which she is portrayed by Kaimana. [7] [8] [9] [10]
Saelua took up football at school as an 11-year-old. [3] Her first coach was Nicky Salapu, who was the goalkeeper during American Samoa's world-record 31–0 defeat to Australia in 2001. [3] Saelua is a former performing arts student who studied at the University of Hawaiʻi. [6]
Saelua has played for former FFAS Senior League men's champions FC SKBC. [11] [12] She now plays for and captains her village club Ilaoa and To'omata. [13] [14] [15] Following the 2023 OFC Champions League qualifying stage she announced that she was considering retirement. [16]
Saelua made her debut for the American Samoa national team as a 15-year-old during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, appearing as a first-half substitute in an 11–0 defeat to Fiji. [3] [17] She then made a further three substitute appearances in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, as well as 4 substitute appearances at the 2011 Pacific Games. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
With the arrival of coach Thomas Rongen in 2011, Saelua was given extended game time, and she made her first start for the team and achieved her first-ever international win against Tonga during qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. [3] Until this point, American Samoa had been outscored 229–12 in all the international matches it had played, and were joint-last in the FIFA World Rankings. [25] Saelua provided an assist and made a last-minute goalline clearance to help her team to the narrow 2–1 win, and she was declared woman of the match by her coach. [3] [26] She was later sent a letter by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, recognising her achievements as the first openly transgender footballer to appear in a World Cup qualifying match. [27] [28]
The team followed up the win against Tonga with a 1–1 draw with the Cook Islands. [26] Needing only a win in team's last game against bitter rivals Samoa to progress to the next stage of qualification, the team fell agonisingly short, hitting the post in the dying minutes before a last-gasp Samoa goal eliminated the rival from the tournament. [26]
American Samoa's efforts to qualify for the 2014 World Cup are chronicled in the 2014 British Documentary Film Next Goal Wins, in which Saelua plays an integral part. [29] The film also documents the team's 2011 Pacific Games campaign. [26]
Although intending to continue playing for the national team, Saelua was left out of the squad for qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. [3] [30] This was in part because she was undergoing her medical transition at the time. [31] Saelua considered the possibility of playing for the American Samoa women's team after she had medically transitioned. [32]
Saelua was recalled to the men's national squad for the 2019 Pacific Games, joining veteran goalkeeper Nicky Salapu. [33] The team was managed by returning coach Tunoa Lui, who had previously presided over American Samoa's world-record 31–0 loss to Australia in 2001. [34] [33] In the team's first match, they were praised for performing better than expected in a 5–0 loss to one of the pre-tournament favourites New Caledonia, and Saelua was praised for her defensive performance. [35] Saelua was also commended for her role in earning the team a 1–1 draw with Tuvalu. [36] She received a yellow card during the match. [37] This was the first game American Samoa had not lost at the tournament in 36 years. [38]
Saelua coached the American Samoan boys football team, Leone Lions, during the 2018–2019 Boys ASHSAA season. [39] She led the team to the 2018–2019 ASHSAA Boys J-V title, for which she received the "Coach of the Year Award" from the Football Federation American Samoa. [39] [40]
Saelua plays in full make-up whenever she takes to the football field. [41] [42] [43] [44] She is known for her crunching tackles and is described as a defender who "takes no prisoners". [44] [37]
Since becoming the first non-binary player to play in a FIFA-sanctioned tournament, Saelua has become a FIFA ambassador for equality and LGBT athletes. [45] [31] She was also appointed to the jury of the FIFA Diversity Award. [46]
Saelua has also trained as a referee, and has helped referee matches in her American Samoan homeland. [47] [14]
Saelua is a faʻafafine, a third gender present in Polynesian society. [3] [4] Saelua began her gender transition before the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers in 2015. [31] [46] [38] She has continued to play football after her transition, including at the 2019 Pacific Games. [31]
Saelua is featured in two films: firstly in the highly rated 2014 British documentary film Next Goal Wins, which documents the American Samoan football team's attempts to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and its first international win, and secondly in the Hollywood comedy-dramatization Next Goal Wins directed by Taika Waititi. [29] [7] Waititi had considered casting Saelua to play herself in the movie, but ultimately chose fellow Samoan fa'afafine Kaimana for the role. [48] [7] The movie was released on November 17, 2023. [49]
Saelua is mentioned in the book Thirty-One Nil: On the Road With Football's Outsiders. [50] She is also mentioned in the children's book Football School Star Players: 50 Inspiring Stories of True Football Heroes. [51]
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
American Samoa | 2004 | 1 | 0 |
2007 | 3 | 0 | |
2011 | 7 | 0 | |
2019 | 4 | 0 | |
Total | 15 | 0 |
The American Samoa men's national football team represents American Samoa in men's international association football and is controlled by the Football Federation American Samoa, the governing body of the sport in the territory. American Samoa's home ground is the Pago Park Soccer Stadium in Pago Pago.
Faʻafafine are natal males who align with a third gender or gender role in Samoa. Fa'afafine are not assigned the role at birth, nor raised as girls due to a lack of daughters, as is often claimed in western media. Rather, their femininity emerges in early childhood, and Samoans recognize them as distinct from typical boys.
FFAS Senior League is the top division of the Football Federation American Samoa in American Samoa and is played on an amateur basis.
Nicky Vitolio Salapu is an American Samoan footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He previously played for PanSa East from 2000 to 2011, before leaving for Indonesian side Mitra Kukar in 2012. He played in American Samoa's 31–0 loss to Australia, where he was the only player from the senior squad remaining after the rest of the squad was ruled ineligible due to holding Samoan, rather than US, passports.
Football Federation American Samoa (FFAS) is the governing body for competitive soccer in American Samoa.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people in American Samoa face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Same-sex sexual activity became legal in the territory in 1980, but same-sex couples may not marry. Same-sex couples married legally in other jurisdictions are recognized and must be treated equally under US federal law since 13 December 2022. American Samoa remains the only part of the United States along with select Native American tribal jurisdictions to enforce a ban on same-sex couples marrying.
PanSa East FC are an American Samoan association football club from Pago Pago who compete in the ASFA Soccer League. PanSa are four-time winners of the domestic league, making them American Samoa's most successful club along with Pago Youth FC. However, the club struggled to emulate this success in the following years, finishing fourth in both 2008 and 2009 and dropping to fifth in 2010.
Next Goal Wins is a 2014 British documentary film directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison. The film chronicles the national football team of American Samoa as they try to recover from the indignity of being known as one of the weakest football teams in the world, and to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Pago Park Soccer Stadium is a soccer stadium in Pago Pago, American Samoa. The capacity is 2,000.
Vaiala Tonga SC is an American Samoan association football club currently competing in the FFAS Senior League, the nation's top-division football league. The club also fields youth and futsal sides.
Ilaoa and To'omata is an association football team from Pago Pago, American Samoa. They play in the territory's top division, the FFAS Senior League.
The 2018 FFAS Senior League is the 38th edition of the FFAS Senior League, the top football league of American Samoa organized by the Football Federation American Samoa. This season is competed by 12 teams and started on 15 September 2018. The competition was won by Pago Youth.
Next Goal Wins is a 2023 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Taika Waititi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Iain Morris. It is based on the 2014 documentary of the same name by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison about Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen's efforts to lead the American Samoa national football team, considered one of the weakest association football teams in the world, to qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The film stars Michael Fassbender as Rongen, alongside Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss.
The 2018 FFAS Women's National League was the fourteenth season of the FFAS Women's National League, the top football league of American Samoa in women's football. The competition began on 15 September 2018 and finished on 5 December 2018. Ilaoa & To'omata won their first league title.
Gabriel Taumua is an American Samoan association footballer who plays for Pago Youth FC of the FFAS Senior League. Taumua has been described by Football in Oceania as, "the biggest talent in American Samoa".
The 2022 FFAS Senior League was the 41st season of the FFAS Senior League, top American Samoan league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1976. Vaiala Tongan were the defending champions, having won their first FFAS Senior League, although Ilaoa and To'omata won the 2022 FFAS Senior League undefeated.
The 2023 FFAS Senior League was the 42nd season of the FFAS Senior League, top American Samoan league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1976. Ilaoa and To'omata were the defending champions, having won their first FFAS Senior League. The league was won by Royal Puma for the club's first title.
Paul Ualesi is a Samoan association football manager who currently manages Royal Puma FC of the FFAS Senior League.
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