Southbridge celebrates diversity and inclusion with Pasifika Day

Southbridge will don a different type of blue and white jersey this week, with the senior side stepping out for their Luisetti Seeds Ellesmere Division 1 match against Hornby in a specially designed pasifika jersey, as part of a Pasifika Day planned at the club on Saturday.

The jerseys form an integral part of the day designed to help support the implementation of climate resilient water and sanitation in the Pacific Islands, work that is currently being undertaken by Unicef and DC10 Fund, with All Black legend Daniel Carter auctioning off some limited edition career celebration boots too.

In addition to the fundraising efforts, the day is also designed to celebrate the strong pasifika community woven through the club, encompassing both a thank you and a recognition of the hard work valued members of the club’s community have put in over the years.

“The motivation first started as a recognition to the first group of boys who joined the club from Fiji in 2007, helping us out at a tough time numbers wise for the club, and a number stayed here, with a couple of them still with the club now.” said Southbridge’s Chris McMillan.

“It was decided that we wanted to thank them for all they have added, not just to the club but the community too, so we came up with this idea to have a Pasifika Day. While covid has stuffed the last one up we planned, it’s great to bring it back this week and give something back to the islands as well.”

“The jersey we’re auctioning off is really cool as it’s a mix of our Southbridge colours and a Pasifika design, created by our physio Kristine Lilidamu, so it’s a great representation of our community.” McMillan said.

While the rugby will provide a great deal of entertainment in the early parts of the afternoon, the aftermatch festivities will include a range of different cultural elements, with food and fun to create a big community occasion.  

“We’ve got in touch with Hornby and we’re encouraging everyone to get behind the event, everyone is welcome on Saturday so it’ll be a great occasion to celebrate and thank our community.”

Information on the festivities and how you can bid to win one of the auction items can be found on Southbridge’s Facebook page here.