A Year Sleeping in the Bush, Then Professional Rugby

Freedom Vahaakolo grew up in South Auckland and has Tongan, Samoan, European and Māori heritage. He attended five high schools and was suspended from three of them. In an interview with the Sunday Star-Times, he described those years as unstable, and said he struggled with questions about where he belonged.

He left home at 14, a decision he made himself. At around 15 he was sleeping in bushland in west Auckland, which he did for about a year. He tried to earn enough money to pay for the laundromat so that he could wash his school uniform. He looked back on that time as one in which anger, fighting and stealing were ways of getting attention, and he said pride made him turn down help. Working out where the next meal would come from mattered more to him than school.

In 2015 he returned to his whānau, asked his family for forgiveness and worked to rebuild their trust. That same year he played for the NZ Barbarians Schools side. In 2017 he enrolled in a foundation course to qualify for university.

He went on to become a qualified accountant, with a job waiting for him at Deloitte once his rugby career is over. On the field he scored tries for the Ponsonby club, and the Highlanders invited him to Dunedin. He later won a contract with Otago and says he hopes to reach a Super Rugby contract.

He shares his story to encourage young Pasifika and Māori men who may be facing similar struggles.