Rooster Chicken Fijian Drua Women’s halfback Noelani Baselala has made a life-changing decision, choosing to pursue a career in aviation over her rugby ambitions.
The 19-year-old, who had given up medical school earlier this year to focus on making the national squad for the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup, recently accepted a scholarship to study aviation at a flying school.
Baselala says despite her passion for rugby, she had to think realistically about life after rugby.
Noelani is the younger sister of Swire Shipping Fijian Drua halfback and current Fiji Water Flying Fijians squad member, Philip Baselala.
Made selections for her second season in the Rooster Chicken Fijian Drua Women’s team, Noelani also got to be one of the 20 selected out of 500 applicants for aviation studies, early this year.
— Fijian Drua (@Fijian_Drua) June 15, 2025
The younger sister of Philip Baselala tells us more of her journey.#TosoDrua… pic.twitter.com/r31bKPSQC6
A former student of Adi Cakobau School, Noealani shared that education was always a top priority for her parents, who consistently encouraged her to pursue her studies alongside her sporting career.
The Solotavuki, Kadavu, player initially planned to study physiotherapy because it relates to her rugby interest and becoming a pilot was never part of the plan until now.
She said when she applied for flying school, there were 500 applicants, and they only selected 20, she never thought she would be one of them until she got an email saying she had received a scholarship.
Baselala stressed part of her dream in playing rugby was to travel the world but now she believes that dream will still come true just from a different perspective, 30,000 feet in the air.
