WASHINGTON (DC News Now) – When young athletes embark on their college careers, oftentimes they are moving far away from their family and friends.
“Being away from family, that was one of the biggest things I had to adjust to.”
Meet Julius Halaifonua, a seven-foot freshman from New Zealand who is now living in the United States for the first time, to play college basketball at Georgetown for Head Coach Ed Cooley.
“The future plans that he has for this program I believe in, and I feel I can contribute from day one,” says Halaifonua. “So that was a big reason why I came as well.”
However, that was not the biggest reason why Julius chose to become a Hoya.
Moving to a new country at 18 years old can be intimidating and for Julius and his family, who are Polynesian, looking for a school that felt the most like home was important.
“When picking schools that I wanted to attend, that was obviously something that was on my radar.”
Georgetown’s football team has several players who are Polynesian, and when they heard a new Polynesian recruit for the basketball team was coming to visit, they were excited to meet him.
“Once we met him, we all kind of like just looked up because he’s such a tall dude,” says Hoyas’ offensive lineman Richie Pinomi. “I think it was off the bat, I think we just felt that Polynesian connection. Just bringing him into our family and we told them that we’re always here, we got that community here.”
“When I came to my visit to Georgetown and seeing all the football guys, all the Polynesians here, it made me feel more comfortable,” says Halaifonua. “Not only for me but my mom (also) when she came, it kind of made her at ease knowing that I’m being surrounded by people of similar backgrounds and kind of made the decision easy to come to Georgetown.”
“As soon as Julius stepped foot on campus, he was just a brother,” says Hoyas’ linebacker, GianCarlo Rufo. “We welcomed him to the family, and that wasn’t anything that had to be forced, like it was natural.”
Halaifonua is the youngest of the Polynesian crew at Georgetown, and he often looks to them for advice as he navigates life in the United States and being a student-athlete at Georgetown.
“You kind of got that sense, when I was introduced to everyone that, like you had that like brotherhood sense, and seeing them every day it’s been great.”
Family and community are a big part of Polynesian culture, and building an athletic community of their own in Georgetown is important to these athletes.
“Community and culture and family has always been rooted into us, you can’t do anything without your family,” says Hoyas’ offensive lineman Kaysen Mahkua-Kaawa.
For these athletes, its all about lifting up other Polynesians and being positive examples for their community.
“At this level, you don’t you don’t see many Polynesians so when you do, it’s kind of something special,” says Halaifonua. “Even if we didn’t know each other, or we’re from, here in the United States, and I from New Zealand, but because we have that similar background, we were always kind of like family.”
