Fiji Under 17 defender Vinayak Rao is ready to make his tournament debut with Nadi in next week’s Digicel Fiji FACT in Suva.
Speaking to FijiLive, the Swami Vivekananda College student said he is eager to face some of the toughest players in the country.
“Really excited and I joined Nadi to compete at the league level so now I want to play in tournaments and feel the level of competition there.
“Teams become strong in the tournament so I’m expecting to face tough defenders and strikers. I want to experience what’s it like playing tournament when compare to league.”
“I feel really good as I will be representing my district and making my parents proud, especially my dad because it was his dream to see me play in the Green jersey.”
“My parents support me a lot. They provide me with proper gear and help me to cope with school work.”
The 17-year-old, who made his debut for the jetsetters in the Digicel Fiji Premier League in February said that while he is wary of the teams in their group, he is determined to display his best performance on the field.
“Currently, I am just doing two session of training daily, two hours in school and with the senior team in the afternoon.”
“It’s a very challenging pool and I have played against the three teams in the league and have seen how intense the game gets with all the experienced players.”
“My aim is to gain experience and be able to make my district proud because as a player my duty is to help the team progress in the tournament.”
Nadi is drawn in Group B with Tailevu Naitasiri, BOG champs Labasa and undefeated DFPL leaders Rewa.
Rao added that decision-making is one of the major areas he is improving on ahead of their match against Tailevu Naitasiri next Friday.
“I am really slow in decision-making and would like to improve myself on that. At times I make rational decisions on the field.”
“I’m thankful to coach Kamal Swamy, for always motivating me and telling me to communicate on the field with the senior players because it’s all about teamwork.”
“The senior players are always helping me learn from my mistakes and they give good advice. I learned to keep my head up and to play as a team, not as an individual and that really matters to me.”
Nadi will battle against Naitasiri in the opening match at 1.30pm.
