Cook Islands Games rugby sevens and netball

These are the last two Cook Islands Games sports code videos.
There were only six teams in the rugby sevens competition and two of them disappeared before the fifth/sixth place play-off. Well it was a hot day and liquid refreshment was obviously more attractive than a game that didn’t have much meaning. I believe Aitutaki (the boys in yellow) won the gold medal. Rugby has quite a bit of experience running tournaments so the mini games shouldn’t be a problem.
The two-evening netball competition was well-attended with plenty of vocal supporters as well as players. No doubt everyone is looking forward to the junior world champs in the new indoor stadium. The junior squad were in Rarotonga recently and had a couple of matches against the (senior) mini games squad. The seniors won both matches which ought to silence a few critics who have made snide comments about the age of some of the players. By all accounts the junior squad were very fit but the golden girls have experience and a killer instinct as well. Hard combination to beat.
It might seem that there’s been a huge amount of sport on this blog recently but people in the islands play a lot of different codes and inter-village rivalry is big in some of them. Now that the games are over it’s back to normal sporting activities until the international triathlon in May, netball in August and mini games in September.
One thing that does need fixing before then is getting the results on the web. The pages at Sporting Pulse never did get updated.

Cook Islands Games soccer and squash

The ‘Cook Islands Games soccer tournament’ wasn’t really a games event. Every year there’s a junior soccer championship with under 16 boys and under 15 girls teams from the southern group outer islands as well as Rarotonga vaka. The organisers decided to call it part of the CI Games and at least it had real outer islanders taking part.
Soccer is a relatively rich code in the Cook Islands because it is funded by FIFA. It’s got its own headquarters at Matavera with an ‘academy’ and a couple of soccer pitches. One has a great surface and is well-drained. The other is very good but gets flooded during very heavy downpours.
A grandstand is currently being built by the number one field. Altogether soccer is a very well off and popular sport.
So it’s surprising that it isn’t part of the Pacific Mini Games! The games organising committee set down criteria for codes. For example basketball and volleyball weren’t ranked high enough regionally so they didn’t make it. Soccer, however, didn’t even apply!
It’s an odd decision. It would have given our top players the chance to play against quality opposition and many others who take part and support would have enjoyed seeing good games. Maybe the bosses just like travelling overseas. That’s an endemic problem with those in authority here.
Squash is one of the smaller codes but its players are very active and they’ve really got something to play for this year. Two glass-backed squash courts are included in the new indoor stadium. This will make it easier for spectators than leaning over a balcony looking down on things. A few years ago they hosted the Oceania squash champs and they usually hold an international tournament each year although last year’s was smaller than usual, probably because of the global financial crisis. So with brand new courts and experience in running competitions, squash is looking good for the mini games.

Cook Islands Games athletics competition

I think athletics is the most interesting code in any sports gathering like the Cook Islands Games (and the forthcoming Pacific Mini Games in September).
Lots of different activities make for some good picture opportunities!
The CI Games athletics took place over two evenings and was held at Titikaveka college field. This was obviously not ideal practice since athletics at the PMG will be at the national stadium at Tereora. That field is being tweaked and upgraded so it wasn’t available although it doesn’t look as though much has been happening apart from re-roofing the grandstand.
However, the officials seemed to have everything under control so they should cope well in September. The only people who didn’t have a lot to do were marshals. As with many of the codes, the numbers taking part weren’t all that large.
Well, the weather was hot and sunny and the young athletes seemed to be having a good time. Let’s hope that remains true for the mini games.