Pacific Islander Film Spotlights the Role of Sport Migration

The French film, Mercenaire, meaning “mercenary,” explores sports emigration from the Pacific Islands. The movie focuses on the story of a young man named Soane Tokelau who wanted to break into professional rugby. Soane’s story is just one of many where young men place their future on the unpredictability of the sports migration system. Sport migration has become an alternative to labor migration. The factors behind the two are the same. They are rooted in economic and cultural patterns; many Pacific Islander families rely on relatives to send back money, while the young men can only feel fulfilled if they leave the island.

For European football, over seven in every hundred players arriving to Europe for the first time are under the age of 18. Many young athletes are transferred to another country as ways for the countries to capture young talent.

The world systems theory is one of the main underlying reasons that explains the movement of people. This theory explains that the ambition to attain success draws people from the peripheral or semiperipheral countries to the core countries. The core countries are the ones that take control over the migrants’ lives since they hold the wealth that the migrants are after.

Many young men have become fascinated with the idea that their athletic talent can grant them immediate income, but this is not often the case. As the film shows, there are many roadblocks to building a successful career in professional sports, especially as a migrant. They are faced with racism, manipulation, and the potential that an injury could dash their career hopes.