Sports in American Samoa are slightly different from sports in Samoa. The main difference is that Samoans in American Samoa are more likely to follow or play American sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. Western Samoans are more likely to follow or play rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Sports such as mixed martial arts, boxing, professional wrestling, and volleyball are popular among most ethnic Samoans regardless of location.

Types of sports

American Football

American football is the most popular sport in American Samoa. Per capita, the Samoan Islands have produced the highest number of

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

players. It's estimated that a boy born to Samoan parents is 56 times more likely to get into the

than any other boy in America. Samoans have been at the forefront as a wave of Polynesian players and coaches have found success in the sport. In 1945,

Al Lolotai Albert Lolotai (June 22, 1920 – September 30, 1990) was a Samoa-born American football offensive lineman. He played college football at Weber Junior College. Lolotai was the first Samoan American and Polynesian to play professional American ...

became the first Polynesian to play in the

. In 2014, Marcus Mariota became the first Polynesian player to win the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

. In 2015, Junior Seau became the first Polynesian player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Troy Polamalu won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2010 and is the first Polynesian player to be on the cover of a

Madden NFL ''Madden NFL'' (known as ''John Madden Football'' until 1993) is an American football video game series developed by EA Tiburon for EA Sports. It is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden and sold more than 130 m ...

video game.

Ken Niumatalolo Kenneth Va'a Niumatalolo (born May 8, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. He is the former head coach of the Naval Academy from 2007 to 2022, accumulating the most wins in program history. Niumatalolo played college football at ...

is believed to be the first Polynesian head coach in college football history.

Baseball

Baseball is a growing sport in American Samoa, where the national team has won silver and bronze medals at the Pacific Games. In 1968, Tony Solaita became the first Major League Baseball player to come from American Samoa. On April 21, 2018,

Sean Manaea Sean Anthony Manaea ( ; born February 1, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres. He played co ...

became the first pitcher of Samoan descent to throw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

in MLB history. Other notable

Samoan Americans Samoan Americans are Americans of Samoan origin, including those who emigrated from the Independent State of Samoa or American Samoa to the United States. Samoan Americans are Pacific Islanders in the United States Census, and are the second l ...

who have played in the major leagues are

Mike Fetters Michael Lee Fetters (born December 19, 1964) is an American professional baseball coach. He is currently the bullpen coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for eight teams during his 16-year career as ...

Chris Aguila Christopher Louis Aguila (born February 23, 1979) is a former Filipino American Major League Baseball outfielder. He played parts of three seasons in the majors with the Florida Marlins (–) and part of the season with the New York Mets. He pla ...

Matt Tuiasosopo Matthew Petelu Tuiasosopo (born May 10, 1986) is an American former professional baseball utility player and the current manager of the Gwinnett Stripers, the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. He played in Major Leagu ...

Jacob Hannemann Jacob Howard Hannemann (born April 29, 1991) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball in 2017. Prior to his professional career, he attended Brigham Young University (BYU) ...

, and

Benny Agbayani Benny Peter Agbayani, Jr. (; born December 28, 1971) is an Americans, American retired professional baseball player. He attended Saint Louis School, Hawaii Pacific University and the Oregon Institute of Technology. He played in Major League Baseb ...

who is best known for his walk-off home run in Game 3 of the 2000 National League Division Series.

Basketball

Basketball is popular in American Samoa due to mainland United States influence. American Samoa's national teams are major contenders in the FIBA Oceania zone as they have won multiple medals at international events such as the Pacific Games. In 1980,

Wally Rank Wallace Aliifua Rank (born March 1, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'6" guard-forward, Rank played college basketball for San Jose State University from 1977 to 1980. He scored 1,432 points in his college career and ...

became the first Samoan to play in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. In 2000,

Naomi Mulitauaopele Naomi Mulitauaopele (born March 6, 1976) is a former professional basketball player. High school Mulitauaopele played basketball at Chief Sealth International High School in Seattle, Washington. Coming out of high school, she was considered t ...

became the first Samoan woman to play in the WNBA.

Peyton Siva Peyton Robert Siva Jr. (born October 24, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for Louisville, leading the school to two Final Fours in ...

is known for leading the Louisville Cardinals to two Final Four appearances and a national championship in 2013. Other notable Samoans in basketball are

James Johnson James Johnson may refer to: Artists, actors, authors, and musicians *James Austin Johnson (born 1989), American comedian & actor, ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member * James B. Johnson (born 1944), author of science nonfiction novels *James P. Joh ...

Bubba Lau'ese Bubba Lau'ese (born Barry Papalii; 13 September 1983) is a New Zealand former rugby and basketball player. Early life Lau'ese was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He attended Surrey Park Primary School in Invercargill, Southland, and Howick Col ...

, Wendell White, Rashaun Broadus and

Mekeli Wesley Mekeli Tiu Wesley (born 2 February 1979) is a Fijian-Samoan former basketball player who starred in the United States before embarking on an international professional career. In college, he was the 2001 Mountain West Conference Player of the ...

. In recent years,

3x3 basketball 3x3 basketball (pronounced ''three-ex-three'') is a variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one backboard and in a half-court setup. According to an ESSEC Business School study commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, 3x3 ...

has gotten more popular as well. American Samoa's Men's division has 11 registered teams, the Women's features six teams and there is a U19 division.

American Samoa women's national basketball team The American Samoa women's national basketball team is the national basketball team of American Samoa. See also * American Samoa men's national basketball team * American Samoa national under-19 basketball team * American Samoa national unde ...

won the title as Basketball Champion at the

2019 Pacific Games The 2019 Pacific Games was the sixteenth edition of the Pacific Games. The Games were held in Apia, Samoa, returning there for the first time since 2007. It was the third time overall that the Pacific Games were held in Samoa. The event was init ...

Boxing

The number of Samoans in the world of boxing has increased over the years. In 2004,

Maselino Masoe Maselino Francis Masoe Fao (born June 6, 1966 in Apia, Western Samoa) is a retired Samoan boxer who represented American Samoa at three Olympics starting with the 1988 Summer Olympics. As a professional, Masoe made history becoming the first Sa ...

became the first Samoan boxer to win a major world title by capturing the WBA world middleweight title. In 2011,

Jai Opetaia Jai Opetaia (born 30 June 1995) is an Australian professional boxer who has held the IBF and '' The Ring'' world cruiserweight titles since July 2022. As an amateur he won a bronze medal at the 2012 Youth World Championships and represented ...

became the first Samoan amateur boxer to win a world championship by taking the

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

gold medal at the 2011 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Joseph Parker became the first Samoan boxer to win a

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

world heavyweight title in 2016. Retired professional boxer David Tua won a bronze medal at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

while representing New Zealand.

Mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts is a growing sport among ethnic Samoans all over the world. Mixed martial artists of Samoan descent who have fought in the UFC are

Mark Hunt Mark Richard Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former mixed martial artist and kickboxer of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) until 2018 and was the winn ...

, Max Holloway, Kendall Grove, Andre Fili,

Robert Whittaker Robert Whitaker or Whittaker may refer to: *Robert Whittaker (fighter) (born 1990), Australian mixed martial artist *Robert Whitaker (equestrian) (born 1983), British showjumper *Robert Whitaker (author) (active since 1989), American author *Robert ...

Tyson Pedro Tyson Pedro (born 17 September 1991) is an Australian mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Pedro is an Australian of Spanish, American Samoa heritage. He ...

Falaniko Vitale Falaniko "Niko" Vitale is a retired American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He competed in the Middleweight (MMA), Middleweight division and has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, Bellator Fighting Championships, Bellat ...

and

Kailin Curran Jaydene Kailin Asoa Curran (born April 11, 1991) is an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight division. She previously fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Early life Curran was born and rais ...

. Both

Whittaker Whittaker is a surname of English origin, meaning 'white acre', and a given name. Variants include Whitaker and Whitacre (disambiguation), Whitacre. People with the name include: Surname A *Aaron Whittaker (born 1968), New Zealand rugby player ...

and

Grove Grove may refer to: * Grove (nature), a small group of trees Places England *Grove, Buckinghamshire, a village * Grove, Dorset * Grove, Herefordshire * Grove, Kent * Grove, Nottinghamshire, a village * Grove, Oxfordshire, a village and civil ...

are previous tournament winners of The Ultimate Fighter in the

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

and welterweight divisions respectively. Max Holloway is the first fighter of Samoan descent to win a UFC world title. Outside of UFC,

has won the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix. On September 24, 2016,

Siala-Mou Siliga Siala-Mou Siliga (''surname pronnounced Sahlingah'', born October 8, 1970), often billed as Mighty Mo is a former American Samoan kickboxer, bare knuckle boxer, boxer and mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight division. His K-1 ac ...

won the Road FC

Openweight Openweight, also known as Absolute, is an unofficial weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. It refers to bouts where there is no weight limit and fighters with a dramatic difference in size can compete against each other. It is d ...

Tournament at Road FC 33. On February 25, 2018,

Genah Fabian Genah Fabian (born September 5, 1989) is a New Zealand kickboxer and mixed martial artist. Background Said by Fabian in an interview, "I was born and raised in West Auckland as a kid and then we moved into central Auckland when I went to Hig ...

became the first woman of Samoan descent to win a WMC world title.

Professional wrestling

A number have of Samoans have ventured into professional wrestling. Members of the prominent

Anoa'i family The Anoaʻi family ( ) is a family of professional wrestlers originating from American Samoa. Family members have comprised several tag teams and stables within a variety of promotions. Famous members of the family include Rosey, WWE Hall of Fam ...

such as Dwayne Johnson, Savelina Fanene, Leati Anoa'i, Rodney Anoa'i,

Solofa Fatu Solofa Fatu Jr. (born October 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring names Rikishi and Fatu with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is a one-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time World Tag Te ...

, and Edward Fatu are known for their work in WWE. Other notable Samoan wrestlers include Sarona Snuka, Nuufolau Seanoa,

Cheree Crowley Cheree Georgina Crowley (born 6 May 1988) is a New Zealand-born professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Dakota Kai. She is a member of Damage CTRL and is one half of the cur ...

Danielle Kamela Danielle Sierra Kamela (born March 18, 1988) is an American professional wrestler and actress. She previously worked for WWE under the name Vanessa Borne. Early life Kamela was born to parents of Samoan, Polish, Chinese, German, and Irish descen ...

Emily Dole Emily Dole (September 28, 1957 – January 2, 2018) was an American athlete, actress and professional wrestler. She is best known for her appearances with Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling under the ring name Mountain Fiji (abbreviated in publicatio ...

, and Sonny Siaki.

Rugby union

Rugby union in American Samoa is a growing sport. The governing body is the American Samoa Rugby Union, which is a full member of both the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions and the International Rugby Board. Rugby union has been played in American Samoa since at least 1924, but the national development of the game has been overshadowed by the popularity of American football since the 1970s. The American Samoa Rugby Union was established in 1990, and did not become fully affiliated to the International Rugby Board until 2012.

Rugby league

The national team has competed in the 1988, 1992, 1998 and 2004 Pacific Cup competitions. The team has also competed in the 2003 and 2004 Rugby League World Sevens qualifiers in the 2005 World Sevens competition. American Samoa's first match in international rugby league was in the 1988 Pacific Cup against Tonga. The Tongan national team won the match 38-14 which is still the biggest loss by an American Samoan team. American Samoa's biggest win was in 2004 against

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

with the score ending at 62–6.

Association football

American Samoa's national team is ranked near the bottom of the

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

rankings. It also has the distinction of suffering the worst loss in international football history. They lost to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

31–0 in a

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

match on April 11, 2001. They won their first international match 2–1 against Tonga on November 24, 2011.

Sumo wrestling

In the world of

Sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

, Fiamalu Penitani became just the second non-Japanese-born wrestler to reach yokozuna, the highest rank in the sport. Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e was the first non-Japanese-born wrestler to reach ōzeki, the second-highest rank in the sport. Kilifi Sapa is known for being the third non-Japanese-born wrestler to reach the top division. However, his highest rank was maegashira, the lowest of five ranks in the makuuchi division.

Volleyball

Volleyball is a popular sport in American Samoa. The women's national team won the gold medal at the

2015 Pacific Games The 2015 Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 2015 or POM 2015, was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from 4 to 18 July 2015. It was the fifteenth staging of the Pacific Games as well as the third to be hosted in Port Moresby. More tha ...

by defeating Tahiti and they are known as one of the top teams in Oceania. Many mainland

can also be seen in both volleyball and beach volleyball.

Eric Fonoimoana Eric Fonoimoana (born June 7, 1969) is an American former beach volleyball player of Samoan descent who paired with Dain Blanton to win the gold medal in beach volleyball at the 2000 Olympic Games. He has played professionally for more than 16 ...

won a gold medal at the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

representing the United States in

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

Other sports

Several

have won medals at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. Greg Louganis won four gold medals and one silver for Diving in consecutive Games from 1976 to 1988 representing the United States. Louganis also took five gold medals at the FINA World Aquatics Championships. In 1984, Robin Leamy won a gold medal for swimming as a member of the United States men's 4×100-meter freestyle relay team. Tumua Anae and Sami Hill have won gold medals with the United States women's Water polo squad at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

respectively. In professional bodybuilding, Samoan

Sonny Schmidt Sonny Schmidt (1953–2004) was a Samoan professional bodybuilder. Biography He was born Edmond Alten Schmidt on 9 September 1953 or 19 September 1953. He grew up in Western Samoa. He later lived in Melbourne, Australia and travelled frequently t ...

became the first Pacific Islander to win a

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually by the International Federation ...

event when he was crowned the 1995 Masters Olympia winner for contestants over 40 years of age.

Lisa Misipeka Lisa Vasa Misipeka (born January 3, 1975) is an American Samoan athlete who specialises in the hammer throw. She was the first woman to represent American Samoa at the Olympics. She won the bronze medal at the 1999 World Championships in Athleti ...

won a bronze medal at the 1999 IAAF World Championships in Athletics for the Women's hammer throw. Her third-place finish gave American Samoa its first ever medal at a world athletics championship event.

References

External links

NFL Video: Giving back to Samoa
- featuring 3 Samoan members of the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sport In American Samoa