For Pops: How a Sudden Tragedy Shaped Fa Leilua

by Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Ten-year-old Fa Leilua walked in the sporting goods store with her father, Sio. It was a spur of the moment sort of trip. She hadn't expected it. Sio bought her a pair of pants, which she now remembers didn't quite fit, and socks that came halfway up her shin.

The pair left the store and Fa still wasn't exactly sure what Sio had planned that day. He drove to a park, got out and walked Fa over to a field where two teams were playing softball.

"Hey coach, here she is!", the proud father exclaimed.

This was to be the future All-American's introduction to a game she has become one of the many faces of. Fa wouldn't say she had eye-popping, immediate natural talent. She drew a walk that day but ran to third base instead.

"I don't know what he was thinking, but he thought the best way to learn quickly was to play the game," she said. "It was pretty funny. I didn't know what the count was. I didn't know what a ball or a strike was."

Before her first day was over, Sio had taken Fa back to the store to purchase a tee and some tennis balls. He found a net in their garage at home and set it up in the backyard. His coaching points were simple.

"He put it up and was like 'Okay, so, hit that object off the tee,'" Fa remembers. "It's just a funny story to me now, and there were funny things he would come up with to try to train me at the best of his abilities."

The father and daughter learned the game together, and it formed a special bond between them. When the time came to begin the recruiting process, Fa leaned heavily on Sio's advice. His biggest priority: "As long as they're paying for school, take it."

Fa initially committed to Washington before signing with Arizona State. Things seemed perfect for her. She was playing at a high level close to her home in southern California, and Sio could make plenty of games.

She earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors after leading the Sun Devils with a .368 batting average and finishing ninth in the conference in slugging percentage. The next year was even better. She made the NFCA All-West Region team while leading the team in home runs with 44 RBIs, and she was the only player on the roster to post an errorless season over 40 or more games.

Everything was trending up for the Sun Devils' star slugger and little did anyone expect how much things would change just seven months later.

It was Christmas break, and Fa had been home for three days. Sio had been begging his wife, Paiao, to cook. The family sat down for a traditional Samoan meal with all of his favorite foods on the table.

After dinner, he kissed Fa goodnight and she headed upstairs to bed. Around 3 a.m. she woke up to go to the bathroom and was struck by how quiet the house was. Sio was known for being a fairly loud snorer. Fa didn't think much of it and headed back to sleep.

An hour later and fast asleep, she remembered slowly coming out of a deep sleep to the sound of her name, like someone was nagging her to get up for school.

"All I heard was 'Fa, Fa, Fa,' she said. "As a little kid, that's how he would always wake me up or say goodbye for work. As soon as I woke up, I heard a loud scream, just panic."

Fa rushed downstairs to find Paiao attempting CPR on a motionless Sio.

"I knew in the moment that he was gone," she said.

Sio had always had health problems. The heart attack that night changed everything. In mere seconds, she was forced to grow up. She rushed upstairs to stop the grandchildren from coming downstairs to witness the scene.

"His grandkids were the best thing that ever happened to him," Fa said. "He spoiled the heck out of them. The last thing I wanted them to see was him like that. I had to comfort them and make sure that everything was going to be okay, knowing it wasn't at the moment. It was hard. I was in shock.

"It was a tough time for all of us, and I had to be the anchor. My dad always talked to me as if I was the oldest, and I'm the youngest out of the four. I was basically numb and didn't know what to do. I did know that I had to be there for my family and give them hope every day. You could just feel the hurt in the house. It was a light taken away, and we were in the dark for a while."

Fa returned to Arizona State when classes resumed in January, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Softball wasn't as easy as it had been. She struggled through preseason practices, and every time something went wrong she'd look up in the stands and be reminded of who was missing.

"Not seeing him in the stands anymore was heartbreaking to me, and I couldn't really take it anymore," she said.

Looking for answers and healing, Fa stepped away from softball. She ultimately decided she needed a change of scenery, to step out of the shadow Sio cast across that diamond.

She began looking for somewhere she could transfer and get a fresh start. She found that in Starkville.

Taking her official visit to Mississippi State was difficult, especially without having her father there to share his opinion and discuss the decision with her.

"He was the one that was always part of the softball journey for her," Bulldog head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "She just needed to take some time for herself in that grieving process. She was looking for somewhere she could go to continue to make him proud."

When she finally did step back on the field, this time in Maroon and White, Fa's bat once again demanded everyone stop and watch to see just how far her swing would carry the next pitch. And the next pitch and the next pitch. She started every game on her way to All-American honors and belted 22 home runs, a mark that stood as MSU's junior class record and would have been a school record had her teammate Mia Davidson not hit 26.

Through it all, Fa dedicated the season to "Pops."

"I started to find purpose in life again," she said. "That's when I demanded to myself that this was going to be for him. This is going to be for everything we both worked for. That's why I have so much passion for the game. A lot of girls have different passions for the game, but I feel like I have a different type of passion. You never know when it's going to be your last day to play the game."

Her teammates watched as Fa began to heal and recover. She matured. And by the end of the year, she led, not just on the box score.

"I think what I've seen the most with Fa is how willing she is to help her teammates who are also going through tough times," Ricketts said. "She's the first one to reach out to them, especially if it's a freshman. She goes out of her way to make sure they feel appreciated and that they're heard. Number one is how willing she's been to talk about everything she's been through and help others with it. She has a huge heart for helping others."

Sio will always be with Fa. She knows she's never going to be able to completely move on. But the pressure of carrying his legacy can weigh on her at times. When the 2020 season began, she shifted her perspective slightly. Last year was for Pops, but this year was for her.

"I definitely know that I made him proud," she said. "I've realized that I've done all that I can for Pops and the ones I love. Now, let's take it to the next level. Let's do this for me as well."

It has still been difficult. That became clear this year when the Bulldogs traveled to California for the Mary Nutter Classic. Playing in front of many of her family members for the first time since her father passed, she fell into a bit of a slump. She was 2-for-13 in State's first four games out West, but a switch flipped when MSU met San Diego State for their final game of the tournament.

She singled in her first at-bat, but popped out in her second. In the fourth inning, the ball finally exploded off her bat the way Ricketts had become used to seeing.

"I think she was putting a lot of pressure on herself the whole weekend," Ricketts said. "You could just see all of that pressure release when she did hit that big home run for us. It was another one of those where you feel it. She just didn't want to let go and kept me in a huge hug with a sigh of relief to just let her emotions take over her in that moment."

The homer was symbolic in a way. As she rounded the bases her family celebrated in the outfield, climbing to the top of the fence to shout their support. Fa pointed to her family beyond the fence as she stepped on second, then never looked back. Her teammates poured out of the third base dugout to gather at home plate.

Earlier that weekend in an interview with ESPN, Fa had been asked what it felt like each time she saw the Bulldogs waiting for her at the plate.

"It's coming home," she answered.

In more ways than one. Each time she steps on the plate she's embraced by her new family. One that has been there for her as much as she has been there for them.

"Every base that I touched – especially being in Palm Springs, finally having that hit with your family – I was in tears," Fa said. "I was at first base. I was at second. I rounded third, and once I got home and I saw my sisters, I felt everything pour out in tears.

"It's like you're carrying a platter full of food, and its heavy, and you're finally putting it on the table. It was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Just a huge celebration."

Mississippi State University Athletics

For Pops: How a Sudden Tragedy Shaped Fa Leilua

Players Mentioned

Mia Davidson

Fa Leilua

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