Vanuatu’s population is under 330,000. Today, the nation has just one professional footballer: Brian Kaltak. This is the story of his unique journey to the A-Leagues, his own personal cheer squad and how he’s become a ‘living legend’. Watch the full feature below.
Brian Kaltak was never meant to get this far.
He grew up “in a tiny village” in Vanuatu, a nation in the South Pacific made up of a chain of islands and with a population of less than 330,000. Today, he’s the only Vanuatu-born professional footballer, captain of his nation, and a Central Coast Mariner.
Football sprawls into the streets in Vanuatu. The local children share boots – and dreams of emulating their idols. When Kaltak was young it was Ronaldinho and David Beckham who helped him to “fall in love” with the game.
“It’s a bit funny,” Kaltak recalls, “growing up back home we used to share boots. There would be two or three pairs of shoes in between 20 kids. And we would spend hours and hours in the park trying to play.
“Growing up playing barefoot was the first option. Then slowly, slowly we started using shoes. There were heaps of us, so just one person had to wear one pair of shoes, so I would wear on my right foot and just play with that, at least just to have the feel of it.
“It was fun… and I miss those days. I grew up in that environment, it made me fall in love with the sport.”
As a child, with one boot on his right foot and emulating Ronaldinho in the park, Kaltak had dreams of becoming a professional.
He fulfilled that dream at the Mariners in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
“Being the first professional player that comes from Vanuatu is a big achievement for me,” Kaltak tells KEEPUP. The Mariners defender is the focal point of this week’s KEEPUP Original.
“It’s a big milestone. I always dreamed of that growing up, and I knew and believed in my heart that one day I would get there. Now that I’m here, it’s dreams come true.”
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Kaltak signed his first professional contract ahead of the 2022-23 A-League Men campaign. His journey prior went from his home nation through Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Zealand as a semi-professional.
Then came an opportunity to trial at the Mariners; he had never heard of the man who would go on to give him his first crack at professional football – but he would know all about Mariners head coach Nick Montgomery soon enough.
“I came here for a trial,” Kaltak says. “I had three weeks of trial, and (for) two weeks I did well. I killed it. And after the last week, I injured my knee.
“The only thing that was on my mind after (was): ‘What’s next? Am I done?’
“After that, it turned out to be not major. I thought my dream was gone, it was over from there. But then I still had this positive attitude, positive mindset in me, I (knew) that I could get back from that.”
His trial was near the end of the 2021-22 season. The knee injury put paid to his first opportunity at the club – but that wasn’t to be the curtain call for Kaltak at the Mariners.
“After I got injured, I thought that was it for me, for the trial,” Kaltak said.
“(But) I always have this belief, this positive mindset in me that I can get back – in anything, even life. That’s what (got) me through my comeback, my rehab and everything. Now I’m here at the Mariners.
“Monty, he gave me his word that he’ll follow up after my injury, and see if I’m doing well down there, and he’d invite me for pre-season. Everything turned out (like) he said. He (was true) to his word, so I’m really grateful for that.”
Kaltak has played 17 games this season for the Mariners, and has quickly become a popular figure amongst the squad and the club’s fans.
His first professional season has not been without its challenges, however; the central defender has collected three red cards this season, a facet of his game the 29-year-old will need to stamp out if he is to excel throughout his stay in Gosford.
Kaltak’s initial contract at the club was as an injury replacement for Brazilian forward Moresche – but just months into the 2022-23 season, the Mariners moved to lock the Vanuatu national team captain down to a contract that will run until the end of the 2024-25 season.
And with Kaltak’s introduction to the Mariners squad has come an influx of new fans; you can see them on Mariners match days draped in the unmistakable combination of colours which adorn the Vanuatu national flag.
They often appear in the corner of Kaltak’s eye as he jets up and down the pitch at Industree Group Stadium. It’s a source of pride for a player who never lost sight of his goal, who “always knew what is next” on the path to professional football, and a reminder of what he means to a nation full of children who might look up to Kaltak, just as he looked up to Ronaldinho, and envision their own future in football.
“Sometimes you’re trying to focus on your games, and you’re running past a small, tiny bit of yellow and green and red of the Vanuatu flag,” he says.
“Me being here, it’s a big achievement for me, and for the Vanuatu team as well. (The whole) nation. How much I’ve grown, and how much I’ve inspired not just Vanuatuans but the local fans, the local kids as well here in Central Coast. It’s really a good feeling, that you know you’re doing those things to motivate them, and to inspire them.”
Kaltak continues: “Growing up in Vanuatu, it is difficult to be a professional player. But it depends which people, and who supports you and you’re surrounding yourself with. And being true to a good pathway that leads you to being a professional.
“My football journey, I think I was lucky because I got lots of support. From families and friends, I knew through football.
“I am very grateful for the support they gave me. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here right now. I am very grateful for that.
“Growing up, I don’t know why, I just knew (that I’d make it). That one day I’ll get a professional contract if I kept on the right path keeping my best every day. Those little things… at the back of my mind I always knew.
“A few things growing up that I (thought) would stop me from getting where I am. Influence from friends, doing things that won’t get me that far. But then I overcame them. I just had this little angel in here always talking to me, (saying): ‘Don’t do it, do this’ and I kept going forward.
“It’s really tough, because you know you love your friends and whatever they do, you have to do those things with them. But it comes to a point where you say no.
“I think that’s one thing that I’m different from the others: I always knew what is next, what to do. Because I have a goal, and I know that I can achieve it if I stay on the right track.”
