Losa Fifita hoping to follow in Southern Steel sister's footsteps
Academy Southland foundation year athlete Losa Fifita doesn’t have to look far for motivation.
The Year 12 Southland Girls’ High School netballer is the younger sister of teenage Southern Steel defender Taneisha Fifita, who has just completed her first full season with the Invercargill-based franchise.
“She gives me heaps of motivation,” Losa said of her older sibling.
“She keeps me going. She gives me feedback after my games, lets me know what I need to work on.”
In fact, Taneisha is the player Losa looks up to the most as she plots a path that she hopes will follow the same route through the development level, to the Steel and, ultimately, to the Silver Ferns.
Losa is a member of the Girls’ High A team which took out the Invercargill premier club title last weekend before finishing runner-up to St Hildas in the Otago/Southland secondary schools tournament staged in Invercargill this week.
Since the entire Fifita family moved from Oamaru to Invercargill last year following Taneisha’s inclusion with the Steel team, Losa has settled well at Girls’ High and proved to be a force at the shooting end for the Jess Huia-coached side.
“The girls are lovely, they’ve been really welcoming,” Losa said.
“(Jess) is lovely, she keeps me going and everyone is really supportive.”
Huia said Losa had been a great addition to the team.
“Losa is that smiling player on the court, she loves playing and training and she works really hard. She’s a great team player, she just brings so much enjoyment to our team.”
In her first year of the two-year Academy Southland programme, Losa has particularly enjoyed the mental skills training on offer, as well as the chance to work with strength and conditioning coach Tyson Huia in the Mike Piper Training Centre.
Jess Huia is a recent graduate of the Academy’s performance coach programme, while the Girls’ High team have also been utilising the Mike Piper Training Centre as a squad to develop their game and build the power required to compete at South Island and national competitions.
“This year those that really wanted to get into the gym, it was offered to them and they took it up. They’ve had some great fun, some good morning sessions in there and it’s just lifted different areas of their game,” Jess said.
“When the times are tough they know they’ve got a bit more ticker there now. They can really pull ball in or contest in the air a bit more now. It adds a bit more physical presence to their natural style.”
