Wheels of Change: How a student's cultural exchange sparked Fiji’s inclusive rugby era

For Makarita Nakavulevu, a 23-year-old sports science student at the Fiji National University, a trip to France helped spark a sporting movement now taking shape back home in the Pacific.

What started as a student exchange in 2024 has led to the launch of wheelchair rugby in Fiji - a first for the country at a national level under its rugby union, with plans now underway for international competition.

Nakavulevu travelled to Europe as part of the France Volunteers Programme and one of four young participants to support sports development.

“During my stay in France, I was exposed to rugby, its development and everything that was linked to rugby,” Nakavulevu told PMN News. “That was when I came across wheelchair rugby.”

Wheelchair Rugby is a mixed-ability team sport that includes basketball, rugby, and ice hockey.

Teams of four people compete to carry the ball across the opposition's goal line, using full chair contact to block and defend.

Nakavulevu said her first experience of the sport was unexpected and eye-opening.

“I was just questioning the game from the beginning to the end because it was all new to me,” she says.

“But it was very exciting. The excitement and the happiness that I saw in the athletes when they were playing the game, really moved me.”

That moment stayed with her. “That was when I told my coordinator at the French embassy, you know what? Back at home in Fiji, rugby is like the heart of the country. I don't get why we don't have this sport at home.”

Makarita Nakavulevu with the Merignac Wheelchair Rugby Club in Boardeux, France. Pic/Supplied.

What started as a curiosity became a mission.

“In the student exchange programme, we were given an alternative to do a project in France or come home and do a project,” Nakavulevu says. “And I opted to make it my project to bring wheelchair rugby to Fiji.”

The journey from idea to reality was not easy as she balanced university study with the challenge of building a new sport from the ground up.

“It feels overwhelming at times,” the third-year Sports Science student says. “But I think if you really have a passion for something, nothing will stop you from achieving it.”

Supported by the French Embassy in Fiji and a small team working behind the scenes, she pitched the idea to the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU), which saw it as a way to extend the rugby vuvale (family) to include athletes with physical disabilities.

Two weeks ago, Wheelchair Rugby was officially launched in Fiji - a historic step that makes the country the first in the Pacific to formally establish the sport at national level under its rugby governing body.

King of 7's Waisale Serevi and Fiji Rugby Union CEO Koli Sewabu with guests at the launching of Wheelchair Rugby in Suva, Fiji. Pic/Supplied

Nakavulevu is now Head Coach of Wheelchair Rugby Fiji, helping lead a programme built around inclusion, teamwork and opportunity.

“It's really a game of teamwork, skills and toughness,” she says.

“I think wheelchair rugby players are very strong people. Wheelchair rugby is not a game that is defined by disability.”

The next step is already in motion. Fiji is now preparing to host its first international wheelchair rugby competition.

“The main focus right now is our first international game in November,” she says. “We will host it in Suwa with a team from New Caledonia. And I believe also

a team from Australia will be coming over to take part in the competition.”

Members of the Fijians with Disabilities Association at the Wheelchair Rugby Union training session in Suva, Fiji. Pic/Supplied.

Mere Rodan, para-athlete from the Fijians with Disabilities Association, has described the launch as a "significant milestone for adaptive sport development".

She says discussions on bringing wheelchair rugby to Fiji had been ongoing for years.

The organisation believes the sport will encourage more people with disabilities to take part in sport, build confidence, and connect through Fiji’s strong rugby culture.

What began as a student's observation in France has now grown into a new chapter for Pacific sport - one where inclusion, not limitation, is taking centre stage.

Watch the launch of Wheelchair Rugby in Fiji here.