Junior All Whites Simon Arms, Tom Biss, Joel Stevens, Rory Turner and goalkeeper Scott Basalaj made the most of their rest day on Sunday to introduce themselves to some of the locals who will miss out on seeing them in action at the tournament.
The group, joined by coach Chris Milicich and the management team, visited the children’s ward at Lautoka Hospital, bringing smiles to the faces of the youngsters as they greeted them and handed out Kiwi souvenir pins.
Milicich says making a visit to see the children in hospital is just one of the small social things the side can do to say thank you to their host country.
“It’s also a good chance to give the New Zealand players a different perspective of life and taking 20 minutes out of the day to do something like this is very easy for us to do,” Milicich says.
Biss and Arms say the visit was much what they expected a hospital in Fiji to look like.
“It’s a humbling experience to see something like this,” Arms says.
Lautoka Hospital staff nurse Tima Wati says the Junior All Whites are the first group to visit the children, besides their own parents and family.
“Seeing some new faces coming in to say hello makes a huge difference to the children so it is a very nice gesture from the team,” Wati says.
New Zealand is currently leading Fiji on goal difference with the two sides set to meet at Churchill Park on Wednesday, 27 March at 4.30pm.

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