Semisi Takelo (16) a Form 4 student from the Liahona High School is the recipient of the first Tonga Australian Football Association scholarship to attend an Australian Secondary School for a year.

Semisi leaves for Australia today, where he will attend Assumption College in Kilmoure near Melbourne. He will spend his Form 5 school year at Assumption and will be coached on the nuts and bolts of Aussie Rules Football.

A TAFA Press Release said that Semisi's selection was based on his meeting all the requirements for the one-year scholarship. Semisi was picked as an outstanding player during the first Inter-College Aussie Football tournament for the ASCO Cup in 2004.

When Semisi returns to Tonga at the end of the year TAFA hopes that he will make valuable contribution to the development of Aussie Rules Football in Tonga.

The two main sponsors of the TAFA scholarship are the Polynesian Airlines and the Pacific Timber and Hardware.

Polynesian Airlines is providing the return airfare ticket for Semisi, and Pacific Timber and Hardware funded his allowances of AUD$5,000 Australian. Semisi will be staying with the family of Jo and Tom Cross of Kilmoure.