Vaka Eiva 2009 links
Build-up
External Links:
Events and results:
Full coverage (day-by-day):
- Sat 21 - Day 1
- Mon 23 - Day 3
- Tue 24 - Day 4
- Wed 25 - Day 5
- Thu 26 - Day 6
- Fri 27 - Day 7
- Sat 28 - Day 8
- Mon 30 - Wrap up LATEST
Photo galleries:
Full-on programme for top sailors
Tutai brings home a bronze medal
Sporty cover for 2010 directory
Junior focus for 2010 rugby union season
New league begins
Sportswear sponsor supports new league
Sailors eye Youth Olympics
Super Kings scorched by Royal Heats
Touch ready to go
Two day tournament to kick start league
Teei to share golden tennis skills
Youngsters do well
Motor Centre backs umpires
Kelly Pick stars in NZ tri
Netball gets ready
Full-on programme for top sailors
Thu
7 Jan
The country’s top sailors are well on their way to achieving their goals of winning medals, preferably gold, at the 2011 South Pacific Games in New Caledonia and qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics.
The young sailing squad of Junior Charlie, Teau McKenzie, Helema Williams, Taua Elisa and Toka Narayan, will be testing their skills in Australia and New Zealand in a full-on summer sailing programme.
Elisa spent the better part of the festive season competing in the Sail Melbourne regatta (December 14 and 19) and this week is in Adelaide for the laser championships.
At Melbourne he was placed 24th out of 55 in a high calibre sailing fleet.
He then came second in a training race in Adelaide before placing 15th and 33rd on day one of racing.
Elisa is being managed and coached by Arthur Brett who is the Australian Institute of Sailing’s national coach in Perth.
Both Elisa and Williams attended a training camp at the AIS last year.
This week Elisa puts on his coaching hat as he focuses on preparing national youth squad members Aquila Tatira and McKenzie who are vying to qualify for the World Youth Olympics.
Tatira and McKenzie had a six-day training session in Aitutaki where they trained outside the reef in conditions ranging from seven to eight knot winds in light swells, to 20 knot winds in one metre swells.
It’s going to be a tough competition for the duo as there are only four spots for Youth Olympics available.
However according to national laser sailing coach Anne Tierney, the duo has every chance of qualifying for the event.
Tierney is thrilled with the sailing experience being gained by the young team especially as the team’s only real big competition in recent years was the 2009 Pacific Mini Games sailing competition in Aitutaki.
“It’s really good for the sailors to be exposed to this high level of competition and experiencing racing in these big competitions,” says Tierney.
And Tierney is confident that the national sailors, who won seven medals at the Pacific Mini Games, will grow and develop into stronger sailors.
McKenzie and Tatira will then head to New Zealand for a week of training in Christchurch (January 16 to 26) where they will then iron out the rest of their summer programme subject to the start of school
and their training in Christchurch.
Narayan is currently in Takapuna at the Splash World Champs – a new class of vessel for the 16-years old who is a competent laser class sailor.
Narayan is accompanied by Junior Charlie who is filling in as his coach.
Charlie will be joined by Elisa and Helema Williams for a full on programme of sailing right across New Zealand including the New Zealand nationals in Timaru (January 22-26), Auckland Anniversary regatta (February 4-7), Manly regatta (February 13 and 14), Wakatere regatta (February 28) and the Auckland laser championships scheduled for March 6-7.
Tutai brings home a bronze medal
Thu
7 Jan
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Aitutaki athlete Daniel Tutai pictured here during the Pacific Mini Games, battled a pinched elbow to bring home a bronze medal from the New Zealand Secondary Schools track and field championships.
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A bronze medal, personal best times and valuable track and field experience are the achievements of the six Cook Islands secondary school athletes who competed in New Zealand in December.
The athletes took part in the annual New Zealand Secondary Schools track and field championships held in Timaru with Aitutaki thrower Daniel Tutai winning a bronze medal in the javelin.Tutai won a gold medal at the same event in 2008 and is the current holder of the national open men and under 18 javelin records. Tutai’s record stands at 59.88m in the under 18 division and 60.3m in the open men’s division.
Tutai had to put up with an elbow injury during the competition and he managed to battle through pinching pain to throw a distance of 56.82m to win the bronze.
Rarotonga sprinter Patricia Taea sprinted her way to the semi finals of the senior girls 100m race and recorded a personal best time on the track in a time of 12.79 seconds.
While these were the two most notable achievements by the team of six local athletes – competing alongside some of New Zealand top emerging track and field athletes has provided the local athletes with invaluable experiences as they continue to develop their athletics skills.
Making up the team with Tutai and Taea were Noni Watt (Aitutaki), Turuariki Baxter (Aitutaki), Tokoono Jessie and Harry Ivaiti.
Sporty cover for 2010 directory
Fri
8 Jan
The golden girl of Cook Islands tennis features on the cover of the new phone directory.
Kairangi Vano, who won two gold medals at the Pacific Mini Games in Rarotonga last year, was Telecom Cook Islands’ choice for its phone book in 2010.
Telecom Cook Islands would like to thank and acknowledge Cook Islands News for assistance in sourcing the photo for this year’s cover.
As a major sponsor of the Pacific Mini Games, Telecom Cook Islands was happy to support tennis as one of their chosen sports for the games.
Business customers and government departments entitled to 10 or more books will have their books delivered by Telecom, other businesses and residential and non-residential customers with less than 10 books are advised that if they have a Post Office Box, the books will be available at the Post Office, or if they collect their mail from a depot the books will be available at their selected depot.
Otherwise if you collect your bill from Telecom you may also collect your directory from Customer Services at the main Telecom Office in Parekura. If you have your bill delivered you will also have your directory delivered. We do ask that the public be patient as the postal staff are still sorting the directories and it maybe a few days before the books are available.
If the public wish to purchase additional books they are available from Customer Services, Parekura at the low cost of $10 per book.
Telecom is asking the public to please check their entries in the phone book and to advise any corrections or omissions to our Customer Services department on 123 or to email sales@telecom.co.ck
Junior focus for 2010 rugby union season
Fri
8 Jan
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A New South Wales Country under 15 player shapes to kick against a Resident’s XV last October – more visiting age-grade teams are scheduled to stopover in Rarotonga this year.
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Junior development will be the focus of the 2010 rugby union season with a number of visiting school rugby teams heading to the island this year.
While the local domestic season for all grades starts on July 3, rugby fans will get their fix in March when the Canadian Lions Rugby Club tours Rarotonga for a four match competition with Rarotonga under 16 players.
The Canadian team will tour Rarotonga between March 28 and April 10 with games scheduled against a combined Takuvaine and Arorangi under 16 team for March 30; against an Avatiu, Tupapa, Ngatangiia and Titikaveka combined team on April 1, and against a combined Ngatangiia and Titikaveka on April 5.
The final tour match for the Canadians will be against a Takuvaine and Arorangi side.
When term two of school begins in May, the primary school rippa rugby programme will also commence for both boys and girls.
A new pre-season 10’s competition will be introduced in June with the new initiative to be run like a festival with rotating venues.
June will also see the start of international and qualifying games with a return to the international rugby sevens scene the focus for senior players this year.
In July, three United Kingdom schools will visit the island for under 15, 16, 17 and under 18 age grade games.
Visiting UK schools will include Old Swinford, Ballycare and Lady Manners College.
Birkdale and Epsom College, both from the UK, will tour with under 18 teams in August before the grand finals of the Rarotonga domestic season in September.
October will see the club sevens tournament which will be the lead in to the International Sevens in Heaven competition scheduled for November 4-6.
Primary School students will then put their rippa rugby skills to the test with the primary schools mixed rippa championships scheduled for the first week of November.
New league begins
Sat
9 Jan
It’s game on today for the first match of the new Turtles Domestic Cricket League between the Super Kings lead by Apii Mamanu and the Royal Heats lead by Vane Tangimetua.
Today’s first domestic league match will be held at the Takitumu Primary School grounds in Matavera and promises to be an action-packed game.
Full international rules will govern today’s 50 over match with the two teams taking the field even matched.
On paper, Apii Mamanu’s Super Kings boast a strong batting line up while Vane Tangimetua’s Royal Heat side features a star-studded bowling side.
But the team that takes advantage of their 50 overs will set a strong foundation to win the game however the difference between a win and a loss will depend on how players apply themselves on the field.
The game is set to start at 12 noon and play will run right up to 6pm or longer.
Cricket sponsors and volunteers have been invited to take advantage of the Cook Islands Cricket Association VIP corporate tent with an open invite going out to the general public to come along and support your team.
The third team in the three-team Turtles Domestic Cricket League is the Storm Chasers lead by Ronnie Forbes who will no doubt be at the field to check out their future opponents.
The domestic league is part of the association’s new high performance initiative that includes the top players from Rarotonga competing against each other.
With the weather being unpredictable at the moment, cricket fans are encouraged to tune in to 88FM for any changes to today’s game plus live up-to-the-minute updates of the game.
Sportswear sponsor supports new league
Sat
9 Jan
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Chris McKinley of Turtles (second from left) has shown his support for cricket in the Cook Islands signing on as the major sponsor of the Turtles Domestic Cricket League which starts today. McKinley is pictured here with Ronnie Forbes (captain of the Storm Chasers), Vane Tangimetua (captain of the Royal Heats) and CICA general manager Alister Stevic.
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Local sailors Teau McKenzie (facing) and Aquila Tatira go through a debrief with coach Taua Elisa after a fantastic pre event performance before the main races with just four spots up for grabs to head to the Youth Olympics later this year.
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Cricket players in the new Turtles Domestic Cricket League starting today will stand out in their new uniforms, thanks to the league’s major sponsor Turtles Sportswear.
Turtles Chris McKinley says that the company has supported cricket over the past five years and they are happy to be sponsors of the new domestic league.
A well-organised Cook Islands Cricket Association led by general manager Alister Stevic was one of the key reasons Turtles has come on board to sponsor the new domestic league.
“These guys are really organised and we like to support the different sports codes on the island,” says McKinley.
Turtles Sportswear has sponsored the uniforms for the players in the three-team Turtles domestic league competition plus their team managers’ uniforms.
Teams also get discounts on training uniforms from Turtles.
CICA general manager Alister Stevic is thrilled to have Turtles on board and supporting the association’s new initiative.
“We are very happy that we are among the select group of people that Turtles sponsors,” says Stevic.
“The positive 2009 season and the local clubs have been able to impress sponsors who are keen to come on board and support cricket in 2010.”
The Cook Islands Cricket Association and all its members would like to thank Turtles Sportswear for their generous sponsorship of the code which aims to lift the Cook Islands to be the number one non-test playing nation in the East Asia Pacific region.
Sailors eye Youth Olympics
Sat
9 Jan
National youth sailors Aquila Tatira of Aitutaki and Teau McKenzie are pumped and ready for their races this week which could see them head to the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore later this year.
Both sailors came off the water yesterday excited with their pre-event performances in a big fleet.
“Aquila finished third after sailing a very good race from the front of the fleet when he got a cracking great start and jumped out of the start in first place rounding the top mark some 10 minutes later in second place,” reports laser coach Anne Tierney.
“After completing two circuits of the course he finished in third place.”
“Teau was two boats behind Tatira at the start and also got to the top mark in fourth place and both sailors were able to turn and see the large fleet approaching them.”
Tierney says that this first race is important for the sailors to get to know the course, currents, wind shifts and effects of a 1.7m tide movement from high tide to low tide.
“Not to forget the 40-odd Australian sailors and another 10 international sailors who are all determined to beat you,” adds Tierney.
McKenzie and Tatira have come from the Pacific Mini Games in Aitutaki where they both won medals – McKenzie a bronze in the women’s laser class and Tatira in the Hobie cat 16 teams racing class.
“These champs are important to our sailing development as these champs are Oceania qualifications for selection of sailors to the first ever Youth Olympic Games which will be held in Singapore in August 2010,” says Tierney.
Super Kings scorched by Royal Heats
Mon
11 Jan
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Gun national and Royal Heats bowler Davis Teinaki sends a bowl to the Super Kings Mamanu Emile which cracked the youngster’s wicket.
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The Turtles Domestic Cricket League tournament got off to a quick start on Saturday with the Royal Heats wasting no time in disposing of the Super Kings in the three-team tournament.
What was meant to be a long lazy day of 50 over cricket turned out to be an action-packed match leading some to wonder if it was a Twenty/20 game.
The Super Kings led by Apii Mamanu opted to bat first but wickets fell too easily with Vane Tangimetua’s Royal Heat team really putting the heat on the batting side.
Campbell Hockin did well to try and steady the King’s fast sinking ship scoring 18 runs from 60 deliveries but the Heats bowlers were too fired-up on the day.
The Heats’ super bowler Davis Teinaki was one of the stand out players in the match taking three wickets in nine overs which included three maidens (no runs conceded).
Fellow gun bowler Wayken Punga also took three wickets, including two maidens, from six overs. Tom Wicks once again showed class beyond his age taking three wickets from just 1.4 overs.
Thomas Teinaki also got in on the action to take one wicket.
The Super Kings were all bowled out for 60 runs in just the 23 overs leaving a small target for the Royal Heats to chase.
And it didn’t take long for the fired up Heats to achieve the target with the national pairing of captain Vane Tangimetua and Davis Teinaki racking up the 61 runs in just eight overs to take the first win of the new tournament.
With a game under their belt, future games are expected to be tougher with the Storm Chasers led by Ronnie Forbes yet to show what they are made of. Their first outing is scheduled for this weekend.
Despite the quick game, the day was hailed a success, starting with a moving rendition of the national anthem by the Royal Heats’ Kori Patia at the start of the day’s activities.
Touch ready to go
Mon
11 Jan
The Cook Islands Touch Association will be kicking off its annual season with competitions for men’s, women’s, mixed and under 16 grade.
The season will commence with a muster of mixed teams on Wednesday January 13 at 5pm at the Avatiu field.
Managers are asked to enter their mixed teams in either the ‘serious’ or ‘social’ competition.
The serious competition will compete for major trophies and prize money while the social teams will compete for sponsored products.
Those teams wanting to have a game on Wednesday will need to register with Daphne on phone 20514.
The touch association will also be registering teams for the men’s and women’s competition as well as the under 16 competition.
A muster for the men’s, women’s and under 16 competitions will commence on Monday January 18.
The touch association also encourages referees to sign up for the season.
The referees will be sponsored this year by the Big Boy Caf and an attractive support package will be on offer for the referees.
Referees can certainly look forward to an exciting season too.
The Atiu Touch Association has commenced their touch season with two clubs – Sunrise and Sunset fielding men’s, women’s, mixed and age group teams.
Early reports indicate that the games have been very competitive with plenty of talent on show.
An invitation has been issued by Atiu for a team to tour the island at the end of the Rarotonga season. Players interested in being part of the Rarotonga team can register with Mark Brown on markb@tkm-ltd.co.ck
Two day tournament to kick start league
Tue
12 Jan
A two-day rugby league sevens tournament is being planned to kick start the 2010 league season.
Cook Islands rugby league association president Charles Carlson says that they are still ironing out plans for the two-day sevens tournament tentatively scheduled for January 29 and 30.
The season proper then kicks off on February 5 with seven premier grade teams confirmed for the season.
The competition will include 2009 champions the Tupapa Panthers, Avatiu Eels, Arorangi Bears, Ngatangiia-Matavera Sea Eagles, Titikaveka Bulldogs, Aitutaki Sharks and the Takuvaine Warriors.
Along with the premier grade, clubs are also being encouraged to field teams in the premier reserve, under 19, under 16 and under 13 grades.
The league association is keen to further develop junior grades with all clubs asked to pay special attention to the development of under 13 and 16 age grade players – the future of the sport.
The league association is currently in the process of finalising the pre season sevens draw plus the draw for the main season.
So dust off your boots and cheering gear for another action paced rugby league season.
Teei to share golden tennis skills
Tue
12 Jan
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Pacific Mini Games gold medallist Brittany Teei (left), pictured with her doubles partner and two-gold medallist Kairangi Vano, will be sharing her golden skills with junior tennis players in this week’s Tennis Cook Islands workshop starting today.
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Aspiring tennis players have the opportunity to improve their game through the Tennis Cook Islands workshop starting today.
Keen players aged between 4 and 14-years-old are invited to the workshop to be run by national junior coach Malcolm Kajer and Pacific Mini Games doubles gold medallist Brittany Teei.
Teei is currently on holiday in Rarotonga and will be sharing her gold medal winning skills with junior tennis players.
The workshop will run up until Saturday starting everyday at 9am and running to 12 noon.
The workshop costs $10 a day and will end with a mini tournament on Saturday.
Kajer says that the workshop aims to improve tennis playing techniques and skills and to grow match playing confidence among the expanding number of up and coming junior tennis players.
To find out more information on the workshop and to register your child, call Kajer on 75614.
The workshop will be held at the National Tennis Centre at Nikao and with no restrictions on numbers – everyone is welcome.
Youngsters do well
Tue
12 Jan
Cook Islands junior elite tennis players have returned better players after gaining invaluable experience from the recent Auckland Christmas tournament.
A team of 10 junior tennis players took part in the annual tournament with Lillian Maui returning home with a gold medal in the under 16 girls junior doubles competition.
Maui placed fifth overall in the under 16 singles division after playing some excellent tennis.
The talented teenager then partnered up with Lucia Young of New Zealand to win the doubles division after going through the round unbeaten.
The pair defeated who were unseeded heading into the doubles competition taking out the number one seed of Trixie Croad and Jessica Hughson 6-3, 6-4 before facing the number two seed pairing of Mia Middleton and Ally Oliver in the finals.
Maui and Young defeated their opponents 6-3, 6-2 to win the gold medal.
Thirteen-year-old Ngana Nicholas also had a great tournament placing in the top eight in the under 14 boys division from a strong field of 128 players.
He then went on to play in the under 16 division where he was placed 16th overall from a field of 130 players.
National junior coach Malcolm Kajer was thrilled with the success and experience gained by his young team which has made stronger and confident tennis players.
Motor Centre backs umpires
Wed
13 Jan
The Motor Centre in Panama has come on board to support local cricket umpires.
Last month 15 cricket umpires successfully obtained Level l umpire qualifications thanks to Beasley and Apii Mamanu who performed the voluntary roles of umpire coordinators. There has been a marked improvement in the standard of umpiring.
“Umpiring in cricket is a challenging task,” says Mamanu.
“There are a lot of rules and decisions that are left to umpire’s judgment and as a result they come under intense scrutiny.
“Since the recent umpires course, Motor Centre sponsored umpires are making better decisions and controlling games like professionals.
“The increased standard of umpiring means players’ ability will improve and junior players will understand the game better also, so to that end sponsorship of the kind the Motor Centre has provided makes a significant contribution to cricket,” added Beasley.
At the weekend’s first Turtles Domestic Cricket League match between the Royal Heats and Super Kings, umpires Shane Thompson and Chris Wicks stood out in their uniforms
and diligently officiated the match.
Kelly Pick stars in NZ tri
Wed
13 Jan
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Local triathlete Kelly Pick is the pride of the local triathlon association after taking out her age division in the recent Port of Tauranga Half-Ironman Triathlon and placing 11th overall in a field of 800 female athletes.
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Gun multisporter Kelly Pick is the toast of the Cook Islands Triathlon Association after winning her age division (25-29) in the recent Port of Tauranga Half-Ironman Triathlon.
The Muri resident not only trained hard to clean up her age division but she also out-muscled numerous elite female triathletes to take out 11th place overall in a field of nearly 800 female contestants.
Pick was part of a small delegation of local athletes including Geoff Stodart, Richard Vinsen, Richard Baltrop and Roland Neururer who took part in the half ironman triathlon on January 9.
Pick swam the 2km swim leg in 37:10 emerging out of the water in 33rd place and made great gains in the 90km cycle leg pulling back 10 cyclists to finish the leg in 23rd place in a great time of 2:33:51.
Pick then showed her real strength in the run leg pounding the 21km course in a cracking 1:30:49 to take out her age division and place 11th overall with a time of 4:43:28.
Overall female winner Sam Warriner of Whangarei completed the half-ironman triathlon course in 4:17:04.
Geoff Stoddart raced in the men’s 50-54 age division placing 6th in the division and 103 overall out of 801 male athletes with a time of 4:48:13.
Roland Neururer placed 10th in the men’s 45-49 age division with a time of 4:52:23 to place 126 overall.
Richard Vinsen also achieved a top 10 placing coming 8th in the men’s 55-59 division in a time of 5:37:15 to place 324 overall.
Richard Baltrop finished 352 overall, finishing his race in the men’s 40-44 age division in position 68 with a total time of 5:46:09.
But it wasn’t just an all-male Cook Islands effort, thanks to a team calling themselves Raro Chicks comprising Karyn Vinsen, Michelle Wood and Debbie Moore. With Vinsen’s swim time of 47:30, Wood’s bike time of 3:23:42 and Moore’s run time of 2:29:44, the Chicks posted a combined time of 7:07:53 to finish 28th out of 29 women’s teams.
Congratulations to the local triathletes for outstanding performances in a gruelling race.
Netball gets ready
Wed
13 Jan
The Cook Islands Netball Association is preparing for another busy year of netball.
The local season is expected to begin in early March with details and dates of the season still being ironed out.
Cook Islands will host the World Ranking Qualifiers in late May early June in a four nations series.
The Cook Islands qualified for the Commonwealth Games last year and all going well with the preparations in Delhi – the Cook Islands will be there for the October games.
Northern group netballers will also be getting some on court action this year as the northern group islands prepare for the Purapura Games in August to be hosted by Penrhyn Island.
Plans are also in the pipeline to send a youth team to the Olympic Youth Games in Singapore in October.
Local players will need to get training for selection into teams representing the country this year.
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