Mystic connection: Rookie steps up for her injured idol

If there's one player in world netball right now who Sophia Lafaiali'i looks up to, it's Australian Diamond Donnell Wallam.
Up until now, she's always admired the strong, agile, sharp shooter from afar. 'I love watching her play – she's a beast, she's so strong. I'd watch her in the Australian league and think, 'Wow, how did you just do that?''
So when the 20-year-old criminology and business student from east Auckland was called up to replace Wallam in the champion Mystics side, the scenario felt almost surreal.
Two weeks on, Lafaiali'i is still wrapping her head around it. Not just at making her ANZ Premiership debut for the Mystics, but in the place of her injured idol – who then yelled encouragement and advice to her from the bench.
Lafaiali'i took the league by storm last weekend, starting and then playing at goal shoot for the full 60 minutes of the Mystics' clash with the Pulse.
She missed just one of her 46 shots – and scored a buzzer-beater two-pointer – while under intense pressure from Silver Ferns defenders Kelly Jackson and Parris Mason. And her calm, confident performance helped the Mystics bounce back from their first loss of the season.
She took it all in her stride: 'I didn't want to psych myself out knowing I was up against two amazing Silver Ferns. I treat it like, 'Hey, they're just defenders, so go out and play your own game'.'
Just a fortnight earlier, Lafaiali'i was content playing for the Northern Marvels in the National Netball League, the tier below the premiership. Her season goal was to be the best shooter in that competition.
Then came the call-up to the next level – after Wallam, who filled Grace Nweke's shoes in the Mystics' line-up this season, badly injured her hand falling out of court in the Mystics' one-goal win over the Steel.
'It's a bit freaky to be replacing Nelly [Wallam],' Lafaiali'i says. 'I really appreciate it, but at the same time, it's so far removed from what I thought would ever happen.'
Lafaiali'i, a netballer since she started in west Auckland at the age of five, also grew up idolising Mystics shooters Maria Folau and Cathrine Tuivaiti, both of Samoan descent like her.
'I love seeing people who look like me, or are from the same culture, really own their space on the court,' she says.
But what's been even more special for Lafaiali'i is the guidance she's now receiving from Wallam – the third Indigenous Australian to play for the Diamonds.
'She's been so awesome,' she says. 'She comes to training, still putting in the hard yards even though she can't play at the moment, and she's still finding time to help me with cues and little reminders,' she says.
In her first appearance in the Mystics blue dress, coming off the bench during their 61-50 loss to the Tactix, Lafaiali'i received advice from Wallam on the bench. 'I love getting feedback, so I was looking to her to tell me things.' She played 15 minutes and scored seven of her eight attempts (she sets herself high standards of 90 percent accuracy each game).
Sophia Lafaiali'i takes a one-handed catch in the Pulse v Mystics ANZ Premiership clash. Photo: Michael Bradley Photography
Wallam still isn't ready to return to the court for Monday night's home game against the Magic, so Lafaiali'i will remain in the side. In fact, Mystics head coach Tia Winikerei says she's now with the team for the rest of the season.
'I want to keep her in so she can build on her experience looking to what's possible for her in 2026. She can grow so much from just being in this environment,' she says.
Lafaiali'i's sudden promotion may have come as a shock, when other franchises have turned to retired players to fill in for injuries this season. 'We want to continue to work to the philosophy to build our own, train our own and make them better,' says Winikerei, who saw the young woman's potential a year ago.
The former St Kentigern College student, in the school's premier netball side for four years, became a training partner for the Mystics at the end of last season. Then Winikerei and assistant coach Rob Wright invited her to join the team at the Otaki pre-season tournament in April.
'Sophia was developmentally brand new, but it turned out to be a great decision,' Winikerei says.
'She's very good with her hands, and takes the ball strongly and with finesse. She can shoot from anywhere. But most of all, she has a strong solid profile, yet she's very nimble on her feet and moves into spaces swiftly.
'Over the years, players who've come out of St Kentigern's have a lot to thank coach Nicola Lewis for. They've all been trained to have great footwork.' They include current ANZ Premiership players Tayla Earle, Carys Stythe, Amorangi Malesala and Tori Kolose.
The Mystics have been affected by injury this season, but are still in the top three of the ANZ Premiership table. Photo: Michael Bradley Photography
In only her second appearance for the Mystics, Lafaiali'i stayed on court for the full 60 minutes – surprising herself after making an early faux pas.
'I have this bad habit of catching with one hand – I don't know why it's become a habit – and maybe my third catch of the game, I dropped the ball,' she says. 'Straight away I thought, 'You're off, you're done'.
'All week it had been stressed in my training: 'Catch with two hands, Fia'. And I did exactly what they'd told me not to do. So I love that they had the confidence to keep me on.
'But I knew to just cherish whatever time I had on court and give it 100 percent while I was on there.'
Winikerei laughs: 'All week at training, I told her 'God gave you two hands to catch with!' But she performed exceptionally well for a youngster; well beyond what I expected of her.
'We didn't put any pressure on her, and she demonstrated the ability to cope out there.'
Both coach and shooter acknowledge the support wrapped around her – from senior players Michaela Sokolich-Beatson, Peta Toeava and Earle, as well as her goal attack, Filda Vui.
'Tayla and Peta worked the ball fabulously and tirelessly throughout the game so Sophia could shoot with confidence and calmness. They showed genuine trust in her ability,' Winikerei says.
Vui, who leads the competition with 19 successful two-point shots, stepped up in the game. 'It was the first time I've seen Filda take the leadership role in the circle, when we really needed her to,' says Winikerei.
Sophia Lafaiali'i is supported by her Mystics attacking team-mates, like Tayla Earle (left, with the ball). Photo: Michael Bradley Photography
Few netballers will have the chance to be on the receiving end of a pinpoint long bomb or miraculous no-look pass from Toeava, and Lafaiali'i admits she's had her fan-girl moments on court.
'Sometimes it's a little bit scary,' Lafaiali'i laughs. 'And sometimes I get really excited when she passes to me – I'm like, 'Oh that's so pretty'; then I just have to remember where I am,' she laughs.
'But it's so cool to work with her because she sees the game in a totally different way. It's amazing to learn how her brain works.
'You can hear her on TV saying, 'Fia, stay!' She's already seen the play, four or five passes into the future, and knows where I need to be. So I'm learning to listen to her and trust her. And it's growing my understanding of how I should set up for any attacker or feeder.'
Lafaiali'i is also getting language lessons from her team-mates. Proud of her Samoan heritage – she's from the villages of Falealupo, Sapunaoa and Vaiala – she'd like to speak the language fluently.
'Peta and Filda will speak to me in Samoan, and I'm like, 'Yep, just give me 10 seconds…okay, got it!'' she laughs.
Off the court, she's studying business and marketing at AUT, and this year also picked up criminology. Her mum, Pacific education leader Tuiloma Gayle Lafaiali'i, also studied it, and as a kid, Lafaiali'i was always watching crime shows rather than the Disney channel. 'I believe you should study what you enjoy – because it's a lot of reading if you don't like it,' Lafaiali'i laughs.
Now training has picked up to four or five times a week with the Mystics, she's been able to get extensions on assignments.
On top of that, she also does social media for the Marvels.
'I feel like the NNL space should get more media because we're the feeder for these ANZ Premiership teams and if no one knows about us, how are you going to develop players?' she says. 'I started doing it last season, and it was amazing to see other NNL teams put a little more effort into their social media, and everyone started promoting their teams more.'
Her goal for the year has shifted to securing an ANZ Premiership contract for next season. But she remains humble about the unexpected opportunities that have come her way. 'They could have looked elsewhere, so it's means a lot that they looked to me as the next player.'

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