Vaka twins headed to Fiji to train with Tonga's women's national soccer team

PROVO, Utah — Laveni and Daviana Vaka will be traveling to Fiji on July 10 to compete with the Tonga women's national team in the OFC Women's Nations Cup 2022.

"I’m extremely thankful and humbled to have this opportunity," Laveni said. "I’m looking forward to playing with some of the best players from Tonga and bring my own experience that I've gained here in the U.S. to the team. My hope for this tournament is to help Tonga accomplish their goal on qualifying for the World Cup. It’s a privilege and honor to go back to my roots and represent Tonga, the land of me and my sister's ancestors."

The OFC Women's Nations Cup will take place between July 13-30, with nine member associations taking part in a bid to earn qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023. Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga and Vanuatu will play for the chance to join New Zealand, who qualified automatically as the co-hosts, as the Oceania representatives at the World Cup. The tournament format will see three groups, each made up of three nations, play each other once, before the top two sides from each group, as well as the two best third-placed teams from the group stage, advance through to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will all be single-leg matches, with the two losing semi-finalists also contesting in a playoff for third place.

"I look forward to making friendships with the women on Tonga's national team and to play against the other pacific islands," Daviana said. "I wanted to do this in order to help contribute what I can on the field. Most of all, to make memories and experiences that I’ll remember forever. I feel comfort knowing that I’ll be playing with my sister, because it makes this whole experience that much better."

Laveni and Daviana have been on the BYU women's soccer roster since 2019. Laveni will be a junior this season and Daviana will be a sophomore since she redshirted in 2019. Following BYU's appearance in the 2021 NCAA Women's College Cup, Laveni was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. The Vaka sisters are twins from Sandy, Utah and attended Juan Diego High School.

For updates, go to the Tonga Football Association Facebook page. The Tonga Football Association was founded in 1965 and is a member of OFC and FIFA.

To see the full schedule for the OFC Women’s Nations Cup 2022, go to oceaniafootball.com.