League: Pasifika award winners Ropati, Perrett going back to school

Jerome Ropati. Photo / Richard Robinson

Retired Warriors star Jerome Ropati and Canterbury Bulldogs fullback Sam Perrett will spend part of the off-season attending UCLA in Los Angeles as student athletes after being named inaugural winners of the NRL Pasifika Academic Excellence award today.

The New Zealand duo will begin their scholarships in mid-October, taking in lessons on Pacific Islander studies and Pasifika outreach programs at UCLA, along with training sessions and games with the college's sporting teams.

The award is the result of a partnership between the NRL and the Australian National University, which aims to promote and improve social and economic aspects of Pacific island communities, through sports development and education. Ropati and Perrett were elected winners by a combined panel of NRL welfare and education manager, and former Kiwis and Samoa test veteran, Nigel Vagana, and representatives from ANU and UCLA.

"They're going over to UCLA for 10 days on a scholarship just to try and open their eyes to a different world and be a part of an organisation that has excelled academically and in a sporting context, and trying to work out ways they can bring that back to help our environment down here," explained Vagana.

"They'll sit in on a couple of lectures and speak to a couple of groups and do some work in the community, they'll run a few of coaching clinics with a couple of rugby teams over there and check out a couple of college games over there.

"I'm sure there'll be some time there for some hotdogs and burritos at some stage as well, so it's a reward for the guys who have done really well throughout their careers. They're obviously special players on the field but off the field just as special as well so they're trying to inspire other Pacific athletes and communities to raise the bar in their own fields as well."

Since retiring in May, following a 145-game, 12-year NRL career with the Warriors, Ropati is currently working as an education ambassador with the club. In 2008 he was awarded the New Zealand Universities Blues award, given to students achieving excellence both in and away from sport, after playing a key role in the Kiwis World Cup success while in his second year of study towards a Business Diploma at Auckland University of Technology.

"That was a breakthrough award in not just the league community but the Pacific community and he's been doing great for the Warriors for a long time so it's a way to acknowledge his contribution, not just to the Warriors but to the game in general."

Perrett works in a similar educational ambassador role at the Bulldogs and is a director of the Rugby League Players' Association, while he has also started his own construction company.

"For the guys it will just be good for them to see the development of sport at all different levels and showcase how sport can open opportunities and doors that maybe they wouldn't have had otherwise," said Vagana.