Christmas came early for Tonga’s school children this week as Sarah D’Audney and Sam Pierce from the Blues traveled to Nuku'alofa to deliver 20,000 pairs of donated boots, shoes and sports equipment as part of the club’s ‘Best Foot Forward for Tonga’ initiative.

Since the ‘Best Foot Forward’ programme started in 2017, the Blues have donated thousands of boots to local communities to help overcome one of the barriers to playing sport.

After Tonga’s devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami in January, the club shifted the focus of this year’s ‘Best Foot Forward’ campaign to directly support the island nation’s recovery.

The sports equipment was delivered to 30 schools across the island including: Tonga College, Mo'unga'olive High School, Queen Salote College, Tupou College, Takuilau College and Tailulu College.

Some of the worst hit areas were also visited by the touring party with Kolovai Primary School, Kanokupolu Primary School and Kolomodua Primary School among them.

Kolomodua Primary had a pre-disaster school roll of 400 students, however this has reduced to around 100, with students still fearful of going to school so close to the water.

Blues CEO, Andrew Hore, said it was great to be able to aid in Tonga’s recovery after the devastating natural disasters.

“Everyone at the club was touched by the images of the tsunami,” said Hore. 

“We view Tonga as part of our Blues community, so to be able to make this small gesture to the people there is really important to us. To see pictures of kids receiving the shoes and equipment makes it all worth it and I want to congratulate everyone from around the region for putting their Best Foot Forward for Tonga.”