The One with Jaiyah Saelua

Jaiyah Saelua was just fourteen years old when she made her international debut for the American Samoa men’s national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign – just three years after she started playing football in the first place.

There were further appearances in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, and in 2011, Saelua moved back from Hawaii to help her country try to qualify for the 2014 Men’s World Cup and the Pacific Games.

It was in that campaign that Saelua started her first-ever match, helping American Samoa to an historic 2-1 win over Tonga in a campaign that was captured on film in the documentary ‘Next Goal Wins’.

Saelua was one of the unexpected stars of that documentary, not least because she identifies as trans fa’afafine, a third gender that’s present in Polynesian society – and we are absolutely delighted to have Jaiyah on the podcast today to tell her story.

We talk about her love of the beautiful game, representing her country, playing in those World Cup qualifiers, finding fame as part of these films, her journey with her identity and so much more in an absolutely cracking conversation that we think you’ll love!

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