More than football: American Samoa powerhouse brings culture, connection to Utah players

ROSE PARK  —  When a championship high school football team from American Samoa came to Utah, one of its stops along the way became about much more than what happens on the field.

Tafuna High School, a six-time champion in American Samoa, visited West High School in Salt Lake City while in Utah for a matchup with East High School.

For West’s Kisi Fonua, the visit offered local Polynesian players a chance to see how Tafuna blends Samoan culture and tradition with football.

“Man, I felt like it was huge for us,” Fonua said. “A lot of the kids were just, you know, so amazed, and they were all engaged in everything that they were doing.”

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Fonua said about 90% of West’s football program is made up of Polynesian players, primarily Tongan and Samoan.

But he said growing up on the mainland can mean some of those players experience their culture differently than players living in American Samoa.

“We’re really Americanized,” Fonua said. “So we don’t really have, like — we don’t really get the hymns, the Samoan hymns, and just the way they prepare.”

That was one of the things that immediately stood out to him as he watched Tafuna.

“They have it so deeply rooted into their football culture,” Fonua said. “We don’t really have it like that. So it was really big for our kids to see it because our kids are Polynesian.”

A connection across the Pacific

The experience also carried significance for Tafuna’s players.

Fonua said he learned while talking with Tafuna’s coach that for many members of the team, the Utah trip was their first time on the U.S. mainland.

“For a lot of these kids, it’s their first time here on the mainland,” Fonua said. “So it’s really good to see that they have this opportunity in front of them.”

Tafuna’s success at home made the trip particularly notable. Fonua said bringing a six-time championship program to Utah gave the team an opportunity to introduce itself to another football community thousands of miles from home.

“The coach is excited,” Fonua said. “It’s really good to kind of pick his brain on how exciting it is for him to have brought his team out here.”

Fonua described his conversation with Tafuna’s coach as friendly, with the two talking about the experience of bringing the players to Utah and what the trip could mean for them.

“As big as they are, this is a huge moment for them also to bring awareness to their team here in Utah,” Fonua said. “So I’m excited for them, and it’s really been a blessing to have them here with us.”

Bigger than football

Utah has a deep connection to Polynesian football, with Samoan and Tongan athletes playing throughout the state’s youth, high school and college programs.

For Fonua, Tafuna’s visit showed how the sport can also create opportunities for players from communities separated by thousands of miles to share culture and experiences.

He said opportunities for players from Utah and American Samoa to spend time together are rare.

“These kind of opportunities don’t really come around as often for the kids, for our boys to play their boys, but also for their boys coming out here,” Fonua said.

And regardless of what happens on the scoreboard, Fonua believes bringing the two communities together is itself a victory.

“I feel like it’s always a win-win for our culture in that sense, you know, for our boys to be able to play each other,” he said. “I’m just excited, man. It is a huge moment right now.”

For West’s players, Tafuna’s stop provided something they don’t necessarily encounter every day: a chance to watch players with a shared Polynesian heritage bring Samoan hymns, preparation and traditions directly into their football program.

For Tafuna, it was a chance to bring that culture to Utah — and, for many of its players, to experience the mainland for the first time.