Fourteen-year-old Mahlia Rivers-Ruri is one of many touch football talents to watch out for in the future of the code in Papua New Guinea.
Currently based in Australia, she had the opportunity to don the red, black and gold colors at the 2024 Touch World Cup in Nottingham, England.
The youngest member of the PNG Open Women's team said it was surreal for her to play with some of the veterans, who she has heard stories about, despite PNG’s disqualification following the team's late arrival at the international event.
“I’ve only heard stories about most of these veteran players who have featured for PNG at the Pacific Games, winning gold medals in 2015 and 2019, as well as the World Cup appearances,” Rivers-Ruri said.
“To make it to a world cup, which was my first to run alongside the team, the feeling is surreal playing next to the elites who have worn the tri-colors at big events.”
Mahlia qualified to represent PNG through her Australian-Papua New Guinean mum, who is part of East New Britain, while her dad is of Maori lineage in New Zealand.
“I started playing when I was eight years old as a junior, and I am still competing in the competitions in Australia,” she said.
“I had the privilege to represent PNG at the 2023 Asia-Pacific Youth Touch (APYT) tournament that was hosted in Australia. I guess that helped me gain a lot of exposure playing against kids my age or older at this event.”
She said seeing her parents and younger sister fly to the United Kingdom to watch her play her first test match in Nottingham was a very supportive move, and she hopes to wear those colors once more in the future.
“It’s been a great exposure getting to play at this level. Being the youngest of the team, I have learned to adapt and observe what the senior players did and tried maintaining that among other fresh faces in the team,” Rivers-Ruri added.
“My ultimate goal is to don the PNG colors again in the future. I hope this experience counts and takes me further as I still have a long way to go in my touch footy career.”
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