Proving to her nana that rugby could be a real job motivated Southland’s first double Olympian to achieve her dream.
Black Ferns Sevens player and two-time gold medal winner Alena Saili used her grandmother’s concerns, that rugby was not a career option, as a motivator to stir her to success.
"I remember my nana saying, ‘I don’t know if rugby can be a real job’.
"I had to prove to her that it could be a real job and that it was a pathway and a career as well.
"It is pretty special now to be able to bring her the medals," she said.
The 25-year-old sportswoman understood her grandmother’s concerns and appreciated her nana was more worried about her getting hurt.
Grandmother Selesa Ahfook said, "I didn’t want Lena to play rugby at first because I was scared that she would get hurt.
"When I saw her win another gold medal, I was shocked and I started crying," Mrs Ahfook said.
The Black Ferns player admired her grandparents for having the courage to move from Samoa to Invercargill over 50 years ago, in order to give her family the opportunities they have had in New Zealand.
"My grandparents left their home in Samoa to come and make a better life for my family here.
"Coming home and showing nana my medals, honours her and shows her that her courage and all her hard work has not gone unseen," Saili said.
Her grandmother thanked "God for her granddaughter’s rugby talent" and reflected on her late husband’s active support of his grandchild’s career.
"My husband did all the fundraising for Lena, he made pineapple pies and sold cheese rolls to send her on all her rugby games.
"He was her biggest supporter," a tearful Mrs Ahfook said.
Saili bid farewell to her nana on Tuesday, returning to her Bay of Plenty Volcanix club in Tauranga, in preparation for her next international tournament.
She has left Southland having achieved her rugby dream and, at the same time, made her grandmother’s dreams come true too.
"These medals were for my nana.
"Being able to come home and put the medals around her neck shows my nana that we cracked it and me and my family are grateful that she made the move from Samoa to Niu Sila (New Zealand)," she said.
