SAMOA (Polynesia Cup 2018) - American Samoa was not supposed to be here a week ago.

Paul Collins of American Samoa received an e-mail from American Samoa Basketball Association president Milton Taufaasau about a last minute call for national duty to play for the country.

Collins wasn't able to answer because of work commitment.

"When I got the message, I could not reply quickly because I was at work and it got lost in the shuffle," shared Collins, who is a Youth Development Professional at the Boys and Girls Club in American Samoa.

"So to my surprise our president (Milton) came by to my house to ask me to join the team and for the approval of my parents, and they said yes," said Collins, who was watching ASA's women's team.

Collins who has represented ASA in the U18 squad and 3x3 national team had one more hurdle to pass, and that was to ask permission to leave for work.

"On that same night, I sent my boss a message and asked her if I can join on this trip. It was a hard decision for me because this is my livelihood and it puts food on our table," said Collins sheepishly, a first time Men's team member.

"Fortunately we have two days off next week because of Thanksgiving so they allowed me to go," the 21-year old added.

The sudden turn of events in the past week makes the current run of American Samoa's campaign in the Polynesia Cup even more astounding.

The men's team have fired on all cylinders with victories over the Cook Islands (72-67) and Tonga (71-70) to remain the only undefeated team in the tournament.

Photo: Collins driving to the basket

"We came here with the expectation to just compete and participate in this Polynesian Cup," said ASA Head Coach Diehl Langkilde.

"It's already a huge honor for us to participate with these countries and I think it hasn't really sunk in yet for us how well we are playing in this tournament," he added.

Collins echoed his coach's statement and believes they can still do better as the competition moves forward.

"We are just focusing one game at a time it feels like our team has been together for months now," said Collins.

Langkilde shared that American Football and soccer are the most popular sports in their country and understands the lack of support compared to the more heralded disciplines.

“"I don't want to sound biased but there's either little or no support for us compared to other sports but I do understand the situation. We have to do well in order for us to be noticed by the government and the private sector,"- Diehl Langkilde

"That's the huge challenge that any sporting federations face back home. We need to make sure that we are worth the investment and I hope we continue to perform well and the Polynesia Cup is only the beginning of our program," he added.

Collins is aware of the difficulties they have but he doesn't let it deter his love for the sport and for his country.

"Our federation is good with their stuff, what happened was, one of our sponsors pulled out two weeks before the Polynesian Cup. It was disheartening for everyone involved, but our officials made this happen somehow and for that, we are very grateful," said Collins.

"I play basketball and soccer for American Samoa and despite it being very different from each other. I enjoy the game and love what I do but most importantly I love representing my country," he said proudly.

FIBA