Mariah Nogueria has hit the heights of women’s football, playing in US Soccer’s National Women’s Soccer League and now her love of the game combined with her heritage has not only helped her win the trip of a lifetime, but it’s changed her life forever.

The half-Samoan, half-Brazilian midfielder with Seattle Reign FC was born in Huntington Beach, California and after winning a competition through the Passion Passport website’s Bucket List Initiative she has found herself in Samoa and American Samoa exploring her background and sharing her love of the round ball.

“I wanted to come to Samoa, it’s my first time here, to get into my roots, meet family and I wanted a way to give back and serve the community and I figured that I wanted to promote soccer because I know it’s not as popular here,” 23-year-old Nogueira shared.

“I wanted the kids to see that as a Polynesian, as a Samoan, that you can play soccer too and still be at the highest level.”

First up on her journey Nogueira visited Fagaitua High School in American Samoa where she shared a bit about her background and how she came to be in American Samoa. before silence during a Q and A session had her questioning how interesting she really was.

“One by one they came up to me with questions about getting a scholarship and playing in college, how often to train and what skills to work on. Turned out, they were just too shy to say anything in front of the group.”

After a quick game of volleyball at lunch the fun continued with a game of futsal as P.E. class got underway.

“I love futsal. It’s fast, you get a lot of touches and your ball skill and speed of play outweight your speed and strength,” she says.

“I never would have imagined seeing an entire school of Samoans playing futsal by choice. Not to mention they had so much joy doing it.”

With American Samoa being a relatively small nation, it didn’t take long for Nogueira’s story to spread throughout the community, helped in part by an interview on the local radio station, and she soon found herself in awe at her growing status among the locals.

“I realised that FIFA, Samoa News, the local TV station, the Director of Sports and the Olympic Committee had all contacted me,” she recounts on her travel blog.

“I spent the majority of the day running around for meetings and interviews with representatives from the various agencies, I even got to meet the Samoan Governor.

“Access to those kinds of resources in America would never come this easily for me, and in meeting everyone, I realised that my trip is more significant than I ever imagined,” she continues.

“In fact, as it turns out, I’m the first Samoan professional female soccer player – ever. There are actually two professional athletes, period, and so my being here is apparently a huge deal.”

Nogueira’s next big excursion to the Football Federation American Samoa headquarters in Pago Pago where in running a football clinic, she was able to share her passion for football with some of the local girls.

“I got to love soccer because of my dad being Brazilian,” she told the gathered participants.

“But, being a soccer player and Samoan I am proud to be here with you because this is one of the first times I have been surrounded by so many female Polynesian soccer players.”

“As was the case in the high school, I feared that no one would show up. Fortunately about 25 school-agaed girls did eventually make it.”

After running through some basic drills, Nogueira upped the ante and was soon joining in with the girls passing, shooting and running relays.

“One of the things I have come to admire most about the soccer culture in American Samoa is the players’ fight and passion,” she writes.

“The girls went into every tackle or 50/50 ball like it would win the game for them. Muddy bodies flew and slid everywhere, but they were always up a second later.”

FFAS vice-president and head of women’s football Sandra Fruean says American Samoa footballers couldn’t have asked for a better role model than Nogueira.

“We are proud to have you as a Samoan female playing professional soccer. We wish you the best of lcuk when you return home and to you girls, Mariah is proof that you can achieve playing professional soccer,” Fruen recounted.

“You can go places with this sport, especially in furthering your education.”

To read Mariah’s blog documenting all aspects of her journey to American Samoa visit www.passionpassport.com.

For more on American Samoa football visit www.ffas.as.