What Lai Passes On: Teaching the Teachers in Naitasiri, Fiji

^{This story is featured as part of SUCCEED Stories, through the SUCCEED Framework. SUCCEED (Supporting Communities Empowerment & Development through Sport for All) is a global framework dedicated to fostering community empowerment and development through capacity building in Sport for All. Led by TAFISA in collaboration with the IOC through its Olympism365 strategy, SUCCEED aims to provide a unified and synergistic approach towards building the capacity of Sport for All stakeholders.}

Before a single child steps onto a court or a field, someone has to prepare the person who will teach them. That's where Selai Marama Kinikinilau - known as Lai - does some of her most important work.

As a Fiji National Sports Commission OSEP Educator and Games Coordinator for the Naitasiri Highlanders Netball Association, Lai doesn't only coach players. She trains teachers, coaches and community leaders - the people who go on to deliver sport to children and young people across Fiji. Her impact doesn't travel in a straight line. It multiplies.

Through the TAFISA Certified Leadership Course in Sport for All, part of the SUCCEED Framework, she discovered something she hadn't expected: that communities across Fiji are facing the same walls. Limited facilities, transport barriers, girls and young people unable to participate consistently. That moment of recognition shifted how she leads - away from titles and authority, toward something simpler. Service.