Jarvis Vaai Filimalae (born 20 April 2003), commonly referred to as Jarvis Vaai, is a Samoan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for New Zealand club

Nelson Suburbs Nelson Suburbs FC is a football club in Nelson, New Zealand. They compete in the Mainland Premier League. They have won the Mainland Premier League three times. Nelson Suburbs FC has strong ties with the region's most successful football schoo ...

Club career

Early career

Vaai developed an interest in football at the age of seven, when his father Alastise became a referee with the

Football Federation Samoa Football Federation Samoa is a member of the Oceania Football Confederation and is the national governing body for association football in Samoa. It was founded in 1968 and became a FIFA member in 1986. The Samoa national football team is a regu ...

(FFS) and Vaai would accompany him to games. He was enrolled in a number of footballing projects in Samoa, including ''Fun Football'', where he was chosen to star in a commercial promoting the various programmes run by the FFS. Having played for

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), an informal name for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible hairy fruit with many seeds * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of curren ...

in his youth, Vaai played for both Samoan club

Lupe o le Soaga Lupe o le Soaga Soccer Club is a Samoan professional football club based in Tuanaimato. It currently plays in the Samoa National League. History Lupe o le Soaga was founded in 2011. The team played in the First Division, the second tier of the ...

and New Zealand club

Havelock North Havelock North () is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of local government saw it merg ...

in the 2020 season. In January 2022, after a good season with Havelock North, he was invited to join a football centre in Peru linked with Brazilian professional side

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

Nelson Suburbs

In 2024 he returned to New Zealand, joining Southern League side

International career

Vaai was called up to the Samoa under-16 squad for the

2018 OFC U-16 Championship The 2018 OFC U-16 Championship was the 18th edition of the OFC U-16/U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-16/under-17 national teams of ...

, scoring five goals in the qualification round before adding two more in the competition proper. He was called up to the senior squad for the first time ahead of the

2019 Pacific Games The 16th Pacific Games (), also known as Apia 2019, were held from 7 to 20 July 2019. 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 ...

, going on to make his debut at the age of sixteen and providing an assist for Matthew Chant in a 2–0 win against

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. In 2024, following a five-year absence from the team, Vaai was called up to the squad again for the

2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup The 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup was the 11th edition of the OFC Men's Nations Cup, the quadrennial international men's Association football, football championship of Oceania organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The tournament was ...

. Later in the same year, he scored his first goal for the nation in

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

; the second in a 2–0 win against

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

Personal life

Vaai attended the

Hastings Boys' High School Hastings Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hastings, New Zealand. The school is part of the Super 8. The school was founded in 1904 as Hastings High School. In 1922, it became Hastings Technical School under the leadership of Wi ...

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, New Zealand on a scholarship through an agreement with the FFS.

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Samoa's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Samoa goal.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaai, Jarvis 2003 births Living people Sportspeople from Apia People educated at Hastings Boys' High School Samoan men's footballers Samoa men's youth international footballers Samoa men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Samoan expatriate men's footballers Samoan expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Expatriate men's footballers in Peru Vailima Kiwi FC players Lupe o le Soaga SC players Nelson Suburbs FC players 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup players