Iva Ropati

Who is Iva Ropati?

Iva Lewis Ropati was born on 18 July 1968 in Auckland, New Zealand, to a family of Tokelauan heritage, and was educated at Lynfield College and Otahuhu College. One of four brothers — alongside Joe, Peter, Tea and Romi — who all played rugby league at a high level, Iva built a decade-long professional career as a centre from 1989 to 1998 for clubs including Featherstone Rovers, Sheffield Eagles, Oldham, the Parramatta Eels and the Auckland Warriors, scoring 91 tries in 130 appearances; his 30 tries for Sheffield Eagles in the 1991-92 season stood as a club record until 2012. In 1993 he was selected for the New Zealand Kiwis, earning four international caps on that year's tour of Great Britain and France. After retiring from playing, Ropati moved into secondary education and, in 2003, became Principal of Penrose High School (later One Tree Hill College), making him the first person of Tokelauan descent to lead a New Zealand high school. He went on to serve as Principal of Howick College from 2010 to 2022 and of Papamoa College from 2022 onward, was honoured with the Sir Peter Blake emerging leadership award in 2009, and joined the New Zealand Rugby League board in 2012.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Iva Ropati" · DigitalNZ, "Famous Pacific People on the National and International Stage" · NZ Herald, "Iva Ropati now sits in the principal's chair at Pāpāmoa College"