Ronaldo Wilkins (born 30 December 1999) is a

Ni-Vanuatu Ni-Vanuatu (informally abbreviated Ni-Van) is a large group of closely related Melanesians, Melanesian ethnic groups native to the island country of Vanuatu. As such, ''ni-Vanuatu'' are a mixed ethnolinguistic group with a shared ethnogenesis tha ...

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Erakor Golden Star Erakor Golden Star F.C. is a Vanuatuan football team based in Port Vila. Their motto is 'Yesu Iwi' which means God is good. They play in the Port Vila Premier League, the Port Vila's top football competition. In 2016 they became champions, which ...

in the Port Vila Football League and the

Vanuatu national football team The Vanuatu men's national football team () represents Vanuatu in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the Vanuatu Football Federation, which is currently a member of FIFA and the Oceania Football Confederation. H ...

Club career

Wilkins grew up in Tagabe, an area in

Port Vila Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...

, the capital of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. When he was 6-years-old he start playing at Wan Smol Bag Futsal. After a few years he moved to

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

when he joined the Zimako Football Academy. In 2014 he returned to Vanuatu to start his senior career with

Shepherds United Shepherds United is an association football club from Port Vila, Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcani ...

. After he had played at the

2014 Summer Youth Olympics The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the II Summer Youth Olympic Games , and commonly known as Nanjing 2014 ( zh, c=南京2014, p=Nánjīng Èr Líng yī sì), were the second Youth Olympic Games, Summer Youth Olympic Games, an ...

he joined the academy of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

professional club

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

. After two years he returned to Vanuatu and went to play for Sia-Raga. On 16 October 2017 it was announced by

Vanuatu Football Federation The Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF) is the main governing body of all football in Vanuatu. It is an association of Vanuatu football clubs, and it organises national competitions and international matches for the Vanuatu National Football Team. ...

President Lambert Maltock that Wilkins would have a two-week trial at the academy of Brazilian football giants

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. The trial began on 4 November and was arranged by Giovani Fernandez who is a football developer for the

Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...

International career

U17

On 13 January 2015 Wilkins made his debut for the Vanuatu U17 National Team during the

2015 OFC U-17 Championship The 2015 OFC U-17 Championship was the 16th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 17 and below. The tournament was held in American Samoa and Samoa ...

. He scored 4 goals in 6 matches, being instrumental in Vanuatu's road to the third place in this championship.

U20

In September 2016 he played the 2016 OFC U-20 Championship helping Vanuatu to qualify for the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

First Team

Wilkins debuted for

on 2 December 2017.

Honours

National Team

OFC U-20 Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, t ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

External links

* Living people 1999 births Men's association football midfielders Vanuatu men's international footballers Vanuatuan men's footballers People from Tafea Province Erakor Golden Star F.C. players Vanuatu men's youth international footballers Vanuatu men's under-20 international footballers Sia-Raga F.C. players {{Vanuatu-footy-bio-stub