LEILUA Eroni

General
FROM NEW ZEALAND TO SAMOA
He was born in New Zealand but moved to Apia, Samoa with his family at age one. He lived there for 10 years before moving to Auckland, New Zealand in 2005. He could have represented either country but choose to sail for Samoa at the 2009 Laser Youth World Championships in Brazil, and has represented the nation ever since. "If you sail for one you can't switch to another so I had a decision to make. I chose Samoa because that's where I got started in sailing. I want to make sure that the up and coming sailors in Samoa and around the Pacific understand that there are opportunities to pursue the sport further." (stuff.co.nz, 13 Jul 2009; rnz.co.nz, 26 Feb 2020; SportsDeskOnline, 01 Feb 2020)

FINANCIAL BARRIERS
He said he finds it tough to meet the financial demands of competing internationally in sailing, and hopes his participation in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo will inspire the next generation of sailors from Samoa and the Pacific Islands. "Money is difficult as it is, but to get into a sport like sailing, it's pretty tough. It's definitely been the biggest obstacle [for me], especially being from a Pacific Island background. Funding is probably the biggest thing I've needed to plan out in terms of [2020 Olympic] preparations as the campaign is shaping up to be quite a costly exercise. So I've just tried to work out what costs I need to cover and where I can get that funding from." He said his club and the Samoa Sailing Association provide him some funding, but the rest has been raised through donations and his own savings. "I've had a lot of support from back home in Samoa and in New Zealand where I'm training as well as in Australia and the [United] States, especially from my parents, my partner and her parents who have all been amazing in helping me with my journey. My absolute dream would be to see primary school kids to have a chance to have a go at sailing, aided by some sort of funding from the school or the government to help them have a shot at competing and doing similar to what I have done." (531pi YouTube Channel, 14 Feb 202; rnz.co.nz, 26 Feb 2020)

OCCUPATION
He works as an account manager for company MG Marketing. "I sell fruit and vegetables to one of the main supermarket chains over here in Auckland. It involves an early start and an early finish, which is beneficial for me because it allows me to get out on the water and get a few hours in before sundown." (lamoaobserver.ws, 4 Feb 2020; LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2019)