\t\t\tVaibhavi Deo creates history after being selected to assist in refereeing the Drua vs Force match<\/p>\n
Vaibhavi Deo of Koronivia, Nausori, a Year 9 student at Adi Cakobau School, has created history by being the first Fijian of Indian descent to step into the world of rugby union refereeing.<\/p>\n
Vaibhavi was appointed by the Fiji Rugby Union Referees High Performance Unit to assist during the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua versus Western Force match in the Shop N Save Super Rugby Competition in Lautoka yesterday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had the opportunity to be alongside World Rugby referees Damon Murphy and Jordan Way – an experience that marked the official start of her journey.<\/p>\n
Vaibhavi expressed her gratitude to Fiji Rugby Union\u2019s Elite Referee Manager, James Bolabiu, for recognising her potential and providing her with this opportunity.<\/p>\n
She told fijivillage News that she is also grateful for the opportunity to learn from top-level referees like Damon Murphy and Jordan Way, who took the time to guide and motivate her.<\/p>\n
Her dream is to become a Tier 1 rugby union referee, and yesterday marked the beginning of that journey.<\/p>\n
A passionate follower of rugby from a young age, Vaibhavi has spent countless weekends watching matches, whether it\u2019s Super Rugby games or international test matches.<\/p>\n
A supporter of the Hurricanes and the All Blacks, her love for the game naturally evolved into a desire to officiate.<\/p>\n
Inspired by top referees, particularly Angus Gardner – her favourite, Vaibhavi began closely following the craft of refereeing.<\/p>\n
She now aspires to become the first female Fijian of Indian descent to reach Tier 1 level and one day officiate an All Blacks match.<\/p>\n
Vaibhavi says for her, rugby has become an integral part of her life – it is now her passion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She says yesterday\u2019s opportunity was unbelievable.<\/p>\n
Vaibhavi says she was doing her schoolwork one evening last week when her dad called her to talk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She says when he told her that Bolabiu had written about her appointment, she was lost for words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vaibhavi says from watching rugby on TV from early childhood to stepping onto the field with world-class referees was an incredible moment she will always cherish.<\/p>\n
She adds that the overwhelming messages and encouragement she has received will continue to motivate her as she works towards her dream.<\/p>\n
Vaibhavi also acknowledged the unwavering support of her parents, Vashna Lata and Dhanjay Deo, who have always encouraged her to dream big.<\/p>\n
Dhanjay is the former News Editor of Navtarang and Radio Sargam.<\/p>\n
Vaibhavi says her parents have always told her that nothing is impossible, that even girls can achieve anything, and there should be no limits to our dreams.<\/p>\n
Dhanjay says it was a very proud moment for them.<\/p>\n
He says he and his wife, Vashna had tears in their eyes as Vaibhavi ran into the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vaibhavi Deo creates history after being selected to assist in refereeing the Drua vs Force match Vaibhavi Deo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[196189,111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-376117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-feature-fijian-drua-super-rugby","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}