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Mauigoa boys attend IMG Academy

The Mauigoa brothers, Francisco and Francis

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — IMG Academy has some of the top high school athletic programs in America. In 2019 & 2020, IMG Academy was named High School National Champions for Baseball and Basketball & MaxPreps National Champions for Football.

IMG Academy is a boarding school sitting on 450 acres of property in Bradenton, Florida. According to Wikipedia.org, IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination. It is a division of IMG, a global sports and media business company that was originally known as the “International Management Group”.

Recently, the Mauigoa brothers, Francisco and Francis, were presented with an opportunity to attend IMG Academy. After a lot of prayer and family discussion, the Mauigoa family ultimately decided to take advantage of the chance. 

The brothers are some of the top football prospects coming out of American Samoa. The Mauigoa brothers played at Tafuna High School and helped the Warriors win the ASHAA High School Football Championship for the 2019- 2020 school year.

Francisco and Francis were able to depart American Samoa last month and enroll into IMG Academy this Spring semester. 

Although Francisco will not be playing for IMG in the fall as he graduates this year, IMG offered him an opportunity to attend the program and prepare him for college. Francisco held offers from Yale, Hawaii, San Jose State University, Army, Utah State, Southeast Missouri, Missouri Southern State University, Montana State, Idaho State, Idaho, and Washington State University.

He signed with Washington State University in December.

Francisco said, “I wanted to get bigger, faster, and compete with the best players to prepare me for college. I also look forward to expanding my knowledge and learn schemes to prepare me for Washington State University. 

“My advice to the youth of American Samoa: keep working and do not stop believing in yourself. When the chance is given to you, go at it with all your strength and prove yourself.” 

At 15 years old, Francis is 6’6” and weighs 315 lbs. He has been recognized as one of the top football athletes in the country. As a freshman in high school, he was selected as a MaxPrep Freshman All American. He is a 4-star prospect and rated the #1 DL in the country for his recruiting class. He is also ranked 4th in the country for playing both OL and DL. 

Francis holds offers from Oregon, Georgia, Michigan, Utah, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Washington State, Washington, USC, LSU, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Nebraska, and Arizona.  Other programs keeping a close eye on Francis are Alabama, Clemson, Florida, and Ohio State. 

“I decided to attend IMG because it is a huge opportunity for me to compete with the top players in the country,” Francis said. “IMG will prepare me for college and football. I look forward to getting bigger, faster, to learn more about the game and be unblockable.

“My goal is to make my family proud and retire my mom and dad. 

“My advice to the youth of American Samoa, if you have the opportunity to get better, take it,” says Francis. 

Francis also states, “I would like to acknowledge the Tafuna High School coaching staff for helping me and bringing more knowledge to the game. I want to give thanks to all the coaching staff of American Samoa for helping me...

“I would like to acknowledge the Aquinas High School coaching staff. I would like to acknowledge my family, my parents for trusting us and letting us attend IMG.  Lastly, I want to thank our Heavenly Father for his protection upon us. I give thanks to the Lord for His mighty blessing upon me and my brother Francisco.” 

Telesia Mauigoa of Aua, American Samoa and Faalialia Mauigoa from Fusi-Safata in Samoa are the proud parents of the Mauigoa boys.

Rhonda Annesley, Samoa News editor contributed to this story.