Standout Kiwi Footballer Bill Tuiloma on Ball Work, Living the Dream, and Putting His Body on the Line

This article is presented in partnership with NIKEiD. In this series we explore the ways in which athletes have customised their performance to achieve greatness.

Kiwi footballer Bill Tuiloma is the standout defensive midfielder who's carving out an international reputation through hard work and strong family values. After first signing for Olympique Marseille in 2013, last year Tuiloma re-signed a three-year professional deal with the club. He's currently on loan to RC Strasbourg Alsace, making him the first New Zealander to play in the top division of French football.

His recent efforts for home team NZ All Whites during the Oceania Nations Cup prove why he's cut out to represent on the world stage, with the 21-year-old demonstrating a threatening long throw that's rarely seen in Europe's top leagues.

We spent a training session with Tuiloma in Brisbane as he was acclimatising to the heat ahead of a weekend match in Papua New Guinea to talk about how he tailors his training and athletic approach to keep ahead of the competition.

VICE Sports: Hey Bill, who have you modeled your game on?

Bill Tuiloma: The big center-mids, the big players like Éric Chelle, Xabi Alonso, from Barcelona, Yaya Touré from Man Ciy; those unbelievable players. I look up to them and see the amount of work they do in the midfield. It's unbelievable, the midfielders, they do a lot of work. I look at them to try and improve my playing, and work harder to get at the high performance that I want.

That's awesome. Has your playing changed over the years, and what's driven that change?

My playing style… Actually it's still the same. My crossing and defending role that I have in the midfield area, and the movement that I have to create space for another player. It's just moving the ball and keeping the ball moving from end to end, from side to side as well. Just keeping that core in the middle strong attacking-wise and defending-wise.

What are your favorite parts to building up your skill as an elite athlete?

I really love doing shooting, free punts. I really like doing passing. Technical stuff: moving the ball, taking it away, coming back again. A lot of ball work with crossing and shooting to the other side.

If you could instantly add something to your game, a skill, what would that be?
That would be to get fitter, get stronger. Just improve the weaknesses. That would take me to another level and make me a better player.

Do you have any kind of rituals or routines that help you get into game mode?
Yeah, I just relax, chill, listen to music. Once I get on the field I do a lot of prayer. That's about it.

What do you think is important about performance?
Every single day you have to be at your best. You have to try to be the best player on the training ground and on the pitch. That drive, that passion for football—for me it's unreal. I love this game; it's my dream. Just a dream come true. Now I have to push myself to deliver.

The performance for me, training and game-wise, has to be on top because I want to be the best I can be. The better you are, the better the team will be. I perform for the team; I'm not just performing for myself. I'm playing for my family, friends. I put the New Zealand top on and I'm playing for everyone back in New Zealand. I put my body on the line for this team. 100%.

A lot of performance stuff is a numbers game—stats and data—as much as physical ability. Does that crossover help you as an athlete?
Yeah, it helps a lot. You have to get fit; you have to have your cardio. That will improve your performance on the field. Once you're fit you can run the full game—95 minutes or whatever. That's fitness and in any sport you've got to be fit to be your best.

I guess you guys cover a lot of ground during the game. How do you fine tune your ability and athleticism? Is it all down to training, or do you do other things outside of that?
It's pretty much down to training. In training you'll find your strengths and also your weaknesses that you need to work on. That's why we train every day; to get stronger and improve our weaknesses. Each position covers a lot of area. As a player, the amount of work you put into training is the amount of work you'll put into the game.

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