Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — One of the most explosive football athletes from American Samoa who made headlines in Seattle Washington is now counting down his final days of being an Eagle for Eastern Washington University.

After playing a huge part on the football field for Fife High School, Soli Paleso’o accepted and signed an athletic scholarship with EWU. During an interview with Samoa News, he said, “I left the island in 2016 for a family vacation not knowing this was a one- way ticket to start a new life in the United States. This was the sacrifice my parents had to make in hopes of giving us more and better opportunity for our future. I attended Fife High School and immediately joined Fife Trojan football team there I met an amazing group of coaches that became my second family Fife high school principal Mr. Bacchi especially head coach, Nevin, and the rest of the coaching family played a big role in my life. I was honored in receiving the first ever Fife High School Trojan award.”

After making a name for himself in the High School Division – Paleso’o turned his college football career into an even more exciting journey for him, collected numerous awards along the way to his graduation from EWU that is scheduled for June 17, 2023.

Soli is the son of Zorrow and Susana Valoaga of Atu’u, Lauli’i and Aoa American Samoa and Seattle Washington. His younger sister, Tulua Matapa Trinity Valoaga is currently enrolled in the University of Washington majoring in Nursing.