Words: Yvonne Mullins

It was my absolute privilege and honour to stand before Master Filimoni Vuli Waqa’s family, friends and colleagues to present a eulogy for Master Waqa on behalf of the Oceania Athletics Association and the Oceania Athletics Council.

I had not known Master Vuli for anywhere near the time that many of the mourners who were present at Vuli’s funeral, however, the time I have known him has been an absolute pleasure and I am happy to say that having Master Vuli in my life and the lives of his Oceania Athletics colleagues and friends has been a positive experience.

I first came to meet Vuli at the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000. He was quiet in demeanor, but always ready to learn and to share his past experiences. His ability to share his knowledge with others and to help them was legendary. During the Olympic Games, Vuli spent a great deal of time getting to know the other technical officials and it was here that he cemented himself as a longtime friend of all of us in the Oceania Area.

I was then fortunate to attend the OAA Congress in Port Vila, Vanuatu in 2001, where I found myself in a working group with Vuli. It was here that I first learnt about the Coke Games and Vuli’s role with the Games. His passion for athletics and for the Coke Games was infectious and I couldn’t get enough information about this event. And with only two (2) years before the South Pacific Games to be held in Suva, Vuli had told me at our meeting in Port Vila that he had to find a way to stop the protests as they were taking away from the Games! I suggested to Vuli that we might be able to ‘professionalize’ the Coke Games and make them a ‘test event’ for the South Pacific Games and stop the protests. He was delighted!

But I’m sure Vuli thought I was some little upstart from Australia who was ‘all talk and no action’. It was in Port Vila that we hatched a plan to bring photo finish to the Coke Games and so we did. And it was here that my long friendship with Vuli, Fiji Secondary Schools and Athletics in Fiji began, and it was here that we ‘stopped the Protests’!

Little did we know that in 2003, Vuli and I would become colleagues on the Oceania Council, and it was here our friendship continued to grow.

Vuli started his journey with Athletics Fiji in 1979, but it wasn’t until 1999 that he joined the OAA Council.

The 15th Congress of the Oceania Amateur Athletics Association which was held in Sydney in February 1999 saw a major reshuffle of leadership positions, it was at this, Congress that, Master Vuli Waqa was elected as the Melanesian Representative to the Council. Vuli was again elected to the OAA Council in 2003 at the Fiji Congress

held here in Suva. In 2007, at the Congress Election held on the Gold Coast, Vuli was again elected to the OAA Council, and it was at this time, Master Waqa took up the role of Oceania Athletics Association Vice-President a position he held for four (4) years until his retirement from the OAA Council in 2011.

During this time Vuli was the Secretary and the President of Athletics Fiji, a position that he held right up until the time of his passing and was integrally involved with the running of the Coke Games (Fiji Finals).

But it was Vuli’s love of officiating in Oceania that will always be remembered. He was an International Technical Official over decades here in the Pacific that made his name synonymous with Athletics in Fiji. During this time, Vuli officiated at the South Pacific and Pacific Games from 1998 and 2023 at the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands. Vuli also officiated at the Oceania Championships both here in Fiji and abroad. He officiated at the World Junior Championships in Sydney and the 2000 Olympic Games. And during this time, he was a Technical Official at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, United Kingdom.

During his officiating years he also spent his time educating other officials and became a World Athletics/IAAF Certified Lecturer. This was a role that saw him educate a whole other level of officials in Fiji and here now we see the legacy of Master Vuli Waqa’s education with more than 250 technical officials officiating at the Oceania Championships here in Suva next week.

Over the years Vuli has been recognised for his services to Athletics here in Fiji and at the Oceania and World levels.

In 2006 Vuli received the Fiji National Olympic Committee, Distinguished Service Award and then in 2008 he received the International Olympic Committee, Youth & Sports Development Award. Vuli’s recognition went across Olympic Committees and the World Athletics Association, where he received the Oceania Merit Award in 2002 and the IAAF Veterans Pin in 2005. In 2013 Vuli was rewarded for his dedication to Technical Officiating when he was awarded the Fiji, Technical Official of the Year Award, and in 2014 the Fiji Sports Administrator of the Year. These awards showed the dedication and commitment that Master Waqa gave across all facets of sport in Fiji. In 2015, Vuli received the ultimate award from the Oceania Athletics Association, Life Membership for recognition of his commitment to Athletics in the Oceania Area. And in 2019, World Athletics recognised his devotion to Athletics worldwide when he was awarded the Plaque of Merit, one of only six awarded worldwide. And although Vuli was not able to be present to receive the award in Doha, we are so pleased that we were able to present him with the award here in Fiji at the 2023 Oceania Congress.

As news trickled out that Vuli had passed, the messages flowed in from all over the world and in closing we would like to share a couple with you:

Josephine Pinto (Guam) – “I am so sad that my longtime friend has left us. He will truly be missed”.

Mary Estell Mahuk (Vanuatu) Indeed a big loss to Oceania Athletics. Sincere condolences to Vuli’s family and athletics friends. May your soul rest in eternal peace until that glorious morning.”

Janelle Eldridge (Australia) “He will be truly missed”.

Merani Navukitu (Fiji) “Isa, Master Waqa, my PE teach in RSMS and was a true son of Fiji Athletics. A pioneer in the early days of Coke Games. A true hero of Fiji Athletics. Rest well in Paradise, may your legacy live on.”

Amesh Amesh (Fiji) “OAA has lost a very special person. He was one of my mentors who encouraged me to get into officiating. May the Good Lord give peace to the grieving family at this difficult time. We will truly miss you.”

Vuli, thank you for your wise counsel to all of us over the years, we will always remember you as the Father of Athletics in Fiji and next week when the Championships begin, we know that you will be looking down on us with love and blessings. We will miss you forever