Fiji Rugby Blog hits Wordpress list

For the second time this month (see here for the first), a Fiji blog has hit one of the top 100 lists of the blogging giant Wordpress. On July 14, 2007, the Fiji Rugby Blog, brainchild of columnist Rusiate Mataika, appeared in the 35th position in the Growing Blogs list.

They are wedged between a Swedish blog and a blog advocating the abolition of wealth. The Fiji Times had this to say:

This is a remarkable achievement spurred by the creative juices of local sports writer Rusiate Mataika and internationally renowned but locally based web design firm Webmedia Fiji.
[Fiji rugby blog gains momentum, Fiji Times, July 20, 2007]

Keep up the great work, Rusi!

Let me also give a little praise here to one of Fiji's "oldest" and most prolific bloggers. Gilbert Veisamasama, Jr has been running two very active blogs since January of 2006:

• Promoting Suva
• Invest in Fiji

These two blogs are invaluable sources of information that is difficult to find elsewhere. Check them out!

Photo by: huygens

Announcing the Fiji Rugby Blog!

Following onto my previous post about Fiji rugby (or lack thereof) on the web, there is an exciting new Fiji blog on the block; heading into its second week of operation: The Fiji Rugby Blog. One notable feature of this blog is that roughly half of the posts to date are in Fijian.

I found the two thoughtful post-mortems of the Flying Fijians' recent lacklustre performances against the Junior All Blacks and the Wallabies to be great reads. Here is a sample:

Australia’s defence was so tight; the Fiji team has no way of breaking or unlocking them with aimless running; unless Fiji uses their creative juices to study those defences; use some diversion to confuse them and attack them when they are bristling with confidence; until we come up with these, Fiji still has a long way to go.
[Fiji put on better showing, June 10, 2007]

Let's hope that this is the beginning of Fiji's favourite game gaining a foothold online!

Photo by rosswebsdale

Nabua RC: the only rugby club in Fiji with a web presence

A strange fact came to my attention recently. In this rugby-obsessed country, there is only one rugby club with a web presence - the famous Nabua Rugby Club. This site has been up and running for a number of years, yet it has no competition. Great work NRC! But what about the rest of you guys?

What does it mean that Fiji rugby clubs have not jumped onto the web? Is it an issue of funding? Perhaps - NRC has a philanthropist supporting their web site. Is it a matter of audience demographics - are rugby fans in Fiji are not online? That seems doubtful as Fiji rugby attracts a fan-base that seems to cut across all economic and ethnic divisions in the country and Internet usage is increasing daily. Does club management not see the potential of having an online presence? Maybe. Likely, there are a number of factors.

To all Fiji Rugby club managers: Don't let those Nabua boys show you up! Get online
to promote your team and to support and build your loyal fan-base. Imagine if your fans could look up your teams' game schedules on the web - then you would not have to answer so many phone calls! (Note: NRC does not have their schedule online yet, but they are working on it.)

NRC has opted to take advantage of affordable web hosting in the US. However, if your club is really strapped for cash, why not look into the growing number of free web publishing options such as:

• A free web site at Google Pages or Hi5
  
• A free blog at Blogger or Wordpress
• Free email lists and discussion groups at Google Groups or Yahoo Groups

If you need some help or advice leave a comment below or email me at thrashor (AT) gmail (DOT) com and I will try to help out myself or find you an eager student volunteer.

Go Fiji go!

Photo by: ediot