Elite Business House Competition 2021

This will be the final Elite competition for 2021 kicking off on Monday 11th October for 8 weeks, which should bring us close to the end of year ‘Christmas time’. Looking forward to seeing some great matches played and with the inclusion of 3 V 3 would make for a more exhilarating event. Details as below

Team Requirements

  1. You may register up to 2 Elite players and at least 4 Social players with at least 1 male and 1 female in a team and must play each night
  2. Fees are $120 per team
  3. You can register players even after the competition begins
  4. You may only Register and play for one team
  5. Players may NOT be beginners

The Game

  1. 2 Teams will compete against each other in a ‘meet’
  2. Each meet consists of 6 matches as follows:
    • Match 1:     Doubles (1 x Elite & 1 x Social player)
    • Match 2:     Doubles (1 x Elite & 1 x Social player)
    • Match 3:     Doubles (1 x Social player & 1 x Social player)
    • Match 4:     Singles (1 x Elite player)
    • Match 5:     Doubles (1 x Social player & 1 x Social player)
    • Match 6:     Triples (1 x Elite & 2 x Social players)
  3. Each match is one game first to 21 points.  NO DEUCE OR ADVANTAGE
  4. The winner of the meet will be the team with the highest combined total of points won after the 6 matches

The format

  1. The competition will follow a round robin format.
  2. There will be 2 rounds of meets each night. First round of games will start at 5pm, second round of games at 6:30pm.
  3. Competition commences Monday 11th October and every Monday for 8 Weeks
  4. Weekly draws and results will be posted on badminton Cook Islands Facebook page

The rules

  1. There are no set matches, therefore a men’s pair may play against a women’s a pair or a mix pair may play against a men’s or women’s pair.
  2. No player can play more than 2 matches per meet
  3. Each team will take turns umpiring.  A toss will determine who umpires first
  4. The non-umpiring team will select their players for the match first followed by their opponent.  Once names are down they cannot be changed.  This is repeated for every match as the umpiring alternates
  5. If a pair defaults a match it will be 21 nil to their opponents

House rules

  1. There is no eating or drinking in the Telecom Sports Arena
  2. Water ONLY

Please email for more information thomasutangauru@gmail.com

International Day of Families: The Akavi’s use badminton to instil core values

Pictured: Members of the Akavi family storm to the top of the podium at the Cook Islands Games 2020

The International Day of Families is a movement observed by the United Nations to raise awareness around the importance of communities and families and their significant impacts on one another.

Jean and Daniel Akavi, from the Cook Islands, have celebrated enormous achievements over the last year, using badminton as a vehicle to strengthen their bond and bring a community together. The mother-and-son partnership became local heroes when they formed part of the team to win gold at the Cook Island Games 2020 – representing their island, Mitiaro.

It all started with Daniel, aged 15, who found badminton through the Shuttle Time programme at his local school, before progressing through the ranks and winning the U15 men’s doubles at last year’s Cook Islands National Championships – alongside partner Emanuela Mataio.

Team Mitiaro at the Cook Islands Games 2020

Daniel Akavi and Emanuela Mataio – U15 Men’s Doubles National Champions 2020

The pair have since joined Badminton Oceania’s player development programme (tier three) which included being part of the recent squad trip to New Zealand to compete in domestic tournaments and a weeklong training camp with our Coaching and Development Manager, Robbie Thackham.

Joining him on the trip, Jean Akavi (his mother), travelled with the contingent to take part in sessions to boost the Cook Islands’ administrative ability, including undertaking the Pacific Foundation Coaching course and supporting junior squads.

While expressing her pride in his achievements so far, she also talks about the importance of badminton in teaching him important life values.

“I admire the values which badminton instils upon him. Personally, I like the ICARE values which stand for Integrity, Collaboration, Achievement, Respect and Excellence – all of which he represents through his participation in badminton. These help to keep him motivated.”, says Jean.

Talking about the time he encouraged her to pick up a racket for the Cook Islands Games, Jean shared fond memories of the nation’s electrifying multisport Games.

“It was great to play alongside Daniel. He was open-minded to be playing with his mum and he was so mature when he acted like my coach. He showed me how to improve my grip, relayed the importance of posture and keeping racket up. He was so patient and encouraging”

“I am incredibly excited about his future in badminton and the person he is becoming”, says Jean.

The Akavi’s aren’t the only ones who use badminton to bring family members together. Last year, we spoke to The Virk’s from New Zealand who took to the local streets to promote badminton among their community – while the whole country was in lockdown.

Badminton runs in their family, with some of the youngsters representing in their local association and country.

“The sport has helped our family develop on and off the court. I can see my children’s confidence and social interaction improving massively. Amreen has hosted some of our club’s competitions, speaking publicly at our events. She’s won community awards and has done talks on her aspirations to inspire others to play sport and focus on their goals”, says Rupinder Virk.

Read their full story here.

Badminton boosting internal culture with Air New Zealand

Badminton has soared in popularity in the Cook Islands over the last two years. Particularly as the non-contact sport identified opportunities to capitalise on the COVID-19 lockdowns and guidelines that restricted the country’s prevalent contact sports (rugby and soccer) in early 2020. Shuttle Time (a grassroots badminton initiative) and player development remain at the core of Badminton Cook Islands’ operations and expansion across the country, with most schools including badminton in their extra-curricular activities and participating in an annual nationwide schools’ tournament.

However, in the last two years, adults have taken a significant liking to the game too. The initiation of ‘ladies-only’ sessions, mixed generation tournaments, 10-week social and elite league challenges have been among the many winners seeing different demographics walk onto the court for the first time to take up the notoriously ‘individual’ yet highly sociable and stimulating sport.

Roberta Eraio ‘Team Air New Zealand’ competing in the social league

Roberta Eraio is one of many adults reaping the benefits, particularly among her team of colleagues. During her 9-5 week, Roberta is an Air New Zealand Customer Service Agent based in Rarotonga. When looking for unique ways to invigorate her fellow colleagues outside of the office, she looked no further than the Badminton Cook Islands 10-week social challenge. Not only has it helped to boost team morale, it also compliments Air New Zealand’s internal commitment to employee health and wellbeing; a factor which is high on many agendas following the global pandemic.

“None of us have played badminton in the past and we liked that it was social and fun. Competing in the social league brought so much humour and laughter among our team, which regularly extended into memorable team bonding moments after our sessions too”

“Our involvement in badminton has benefited us in a variety of ways. It motivated us to commit to a healthy and sociable activity once a week, which is often difficult under normal circumstances as shift workers.  We even started strategizing ways to better ourselves in the challenge which aided the improvement of our physical and mental health”

The social leagues came at a good time too. Employees were struggling with the lack of face-to-face contact in a usually high-energy office, as everyone was forced to work from home.

“Badminton enhanced the bonding as we did not see each other as often during the lockdown. Like a driving force it enabled us to stay connected and positive after our lockdown began to ease and even after the two-way bubble opened”

For over 80 days, a ‘bubble’ was in operation between New Zealand and the Cook Islands, meaning Roberta’s team eventually faltered due to the increased demand for tourism. Nonetheless, the team’s initial participation, reviews and popularity infiltrated their Head Office as more team members signed to participate, allowing everyone to stay involved in some form to work around one another’s shifts.

“Now we are well and truly back in action with one to two flights to Rarotonga every day, most team members are back on shift patterns. Luckily, we have a big family at Air NZ, so we were still able to enter another team into the 8-Week Winter Challenge. 

“Although we’re still learning to improve our skills, we now have the added joy of sharing the knowledge with our new players and reminiscing on how fun it was during the Summer Challenge.  We fully support the efforts of Badminton Cook Islands in our community and especially the opportunity it offers our youth in the Cook Islands”

This is not the first-time badminton has been used to develop skills among teams or individuals. A study at Coventry University found the exceptional benefits of badminton in developing children’s’ fundamental motor skills. Moreover, Steve Griffiths, a senior visiting fellow at the World Academy of Sport, has built a career on assisting professional teams to thrive internally and he empathised the importance of using sport as a vehicle to achieve organisational goals:

“From my experience in leading a high-performance referee team to world cups and also leading departmental teams, we were always more successful when everybody in the team bought into the culture, respected each other’s differences and focussed on agreed objectives”, says Steve.

The increased interest from such corporate teams and older demographics also laid the foundations for the pilot international master’s (over 35’s) tournament ‘Oceania Masters in Paradise’, which will take place in Rarotonga in May 2022. Moreover, the badminton experience is about to become even more available with the inception of AirBadminton.

Over the last year, Badminton Oceania has assisted member associations like the Cook Islands to rollout the ‘new outdoor game’ of AirBadminton. With portables nets, equipment and a more durable shuttlecock, the initiative allows anyone to play badminton outside. The games is well suited for the Cook Islands, where residents in Aitutaki and Rarotonga have started to enjoy the game on stunning beaches and grassy parklands.

Follow the latest updates and development with Badminton Cook Islands on their Facebook page.

Students showcase their talent at the sixth Annual College Tournament

Secondary schools students from around Rarotonga came together to battle it out in the sixth Annual College Badminton Tournament on Friday 10 June at the National Sports Arena.

The excellent initiative developed by Badminton Cook Islands enjoyed its sixth year in 2021, making a prominent revival following last year’s cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Festivities begin five weeks out from the tournament, with a Shuttle Time tour of Rarotonga where qualified instructors lead sessions for students aged between 10-12 (junior) and 13-15 (senior).

Throughout the five weeks, students learn the fundamental rules of the game, before practicing techniques to play a competitive match.

Culminating with the day-long tournament, students are given the chance to showcase their skills with opportunities to be identified for junior national team competitions. Two months ago, a junior team flew to New Zealand to compete and train in domestic competitions and the association is looking to do something similar with a larger group in September 2021.

Badminton Cook Islands president Thomas Ngauru said that it was a brilliant day in which he hoped everybody had fun.

“It is very busy times for us here. The badminton competition (yesterday) has been a big part of our development for our kids as some of them continue to prepare and upskill themselves for the competitions in New Zealand. There was a lot of really great talent spotted which was great,” Ngauru said.

Following the substantial increase in awareness surrounding the tournament, the association were able to onboard The Edgewater Resort and Spa as trophy sponsors and Vodafone to provide data vouchers for ‘outstanding players’.

Apii Avarua and Nukutere College were the two schools to watch, having swept the awards table. Apii Avarua took the overall junior champions title and Nukutere taking the senior championship title.

Full results
Junior Division Results (Years 7 and 8)Senior Division Results (Years 9 and 10)
Boys Singles – WinnerKaiyin Mataio – Nukutere CollegeEmanuela Mataio – Nukutere College
Boys Singles –  Runner UpTahitoa Webb – Apii AvaruaZarrian Heather-Rau – Nukutere College
Girls Singles – WinnerVaitea Crocombe-Ama – Apii AvaruaTereapii Akavi – Nukutere College
Girls Singles –  Runner UpTara Aperau – Nukutere CollegeLoureina Kureta – Tereora College
Boys Doubles – WinnerApenisa Bogitini & Jade Cowan – Nukutere CollegeJordan Peraua & Jeremiah Enetama – Nukutere College
Boys Doubles – Runner UpDavis Tetauru & Aporo Williams – Apii AvaruaCharlie Ngatoko & Mark Queddrick – Nukutere College
Girls Doubles – WinnerCasonya Bates & Lafala Va’ai – Apii AvaruaTehani Matapo & Taira Tangaroa – Nukutere College
Girls Doubles – Runner UpLeah Schuster & Anilia Heather-Marsters – Apii AvaruaChiann Naslund & Katee Wearing – Tereora College
Mixed Doubles – WinnerTilati Ataela & Maretu Goodwin – Apii Avarua Setephano Vakatini & Mahana Sijp – Nukutere College
Mixed Doubles – Runner UpTunui Tangaroa & Raetea Rongo – Apii AvaruaMaevarangi Kirikava & Paula Manlangit – Nukutere College

Cook Islands become first representatives to compete in New Zealand since 2019

Eight junior players from the Cook Islands will be travelling to Auckland this week to take part in a 10-day badminton bonanza.

Throughout the week, the youngsters will be competing in the North Island Bay of Plenty U15/U19 Open from 23-25 April and Waikato U17 Open on 1 and 2 May 2021.

In between the two tournaments, the youngsters will take part in a four-day training programme which is led by the Badminton Oceania’s Coaching and Development Manager, Robbie Thackham. All of the youngsters (listed below) are part of tier three in the player development programme which aims to prepare junior players from selected Pacific Island countries for a higher level of competition and structured training environment – beyond what is currently available in country.

The trip is also symbolic of the fantastic benefits and opportunities available through Shuttle Time, which was the route into badminton for most of the players. Having first picked up a racket in Cook Islands Shuttle Time sessions, some of the players have advanced their skills and reaped the rewards, going on to represent their country internationally at the VICTOR Oceania Championships, AIMS Games and continuing inclusion in Badminton Oceania’s Player Development programme.

Cook Island Representatives:

Badminton Cook Islands have enjoyed tremendous growth over the last two years, remarkably overcoming the barriers which surfaced from the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns. They have become one of the most popular sports in country and a seen a huge increase in demand which has ultimately led to the inception of a ladies only group, an elite 10-week challenge series, a social 10-week challenge series and more.

Regularly working behind the scenes to make it happen in the Cooks, Badminton Cook Islands President, Thomas Mereana-Ngauru, and Hebrew Tom (Board member) will join the youngsters on their 10-day trip to enhance their own experience and knowledge too.

Not only is Thomas continuing his development as a BWF level one qualified coach, but the pair will be learning more about professional event implementation to improve the services available in country, including using Tournament Software – the online software utilised by the BWF to implement international tournaments – to run their internal tournaments, including their National Championships.

This also compliments the likes of Badminton Oceania’s new event – Oceania Masters In Paradise – which was scheduled to take place in Rarotonga in June 2020, but was postponed due to the global pandemic. The aim is to reprise the innovate event in 2022 as ambitions for a travel bubble across the continent (and hopefully beyond) continue to build momentum.

“Our junior players are ecstatic to travel abroad to compete in tournaments again. In the Cook Islands, we have made significant progress over the last few years and COVID-19 brought us all to a sudden halt. However, we were able to make a quick comeback in-country and this trip is a promising sign of progress and a return to international badminton – particularly for the young players who have high hopes in badminton”, says Thomas Mereana-Ngauru

“The global pandemic played a significant role in the revamp of our player development programme and strategy. I’m looking forward to delivering face-to-face again with some of our tier three participants and continuing the progress of our Pacific-based players, taking them through various technical and tactical routines”, says Robbie Thackham.

Follow the latest updates and development with Badminton Cook Islands on their Facebook page.

Humans of Shuttle Time: Thomas Mereana-Ngauru – Cook Islands

Pictured: Thomas Mereana-Ngauru (left) distributing Shuttle Time equipment across the Cook Islands

The Badminton World Federation’s Humans of Shuttle Time series presents the perspectives of those who work on badminton development at the grassroots level.

Thomas Mereana-Ngauru, President and Shuttle Time National Coordinator for Badminton Cook Islands, first found badminton in New Zealand at his school during the 70s. Despite not owning a racket at the time, Thomas became besotted with the sport. Upon returning to the Cook Islands in the 90s, Thomas eventually took on the position as President and National Shuttle Time Coordinator and ensures that rackets fall into the hands of numerous eager children. Read his full story:

Childhood Days

I first saw badminton at home, our family was sporty so we had a badminton set which we pulled out every time we went to the beach.  But my best memories of the sport was when it was school holidays and we would attend the school holiday programme at the Mt Albert Sports Centre where they had trampolines, gymnastics, table tennis, etc. but I would always look forward to playing badminton and nothing else, and I was always sad when the holidays came to an end. 

The defining moment for me was during my last year in New Zealand a man came to our school looking for badminton talent. He invited me and another player to compete in a school tournament but we had to take our own rackets.  I didn’t have one and I was gutted because I knew I could have done well. Before I left I was contemplating asking my parents to leave me in New Zealand so I could play badminton.  Well, there was no way my parents would allow that to happen.

First Love

I think the first thing that struck me was how happy it made me feel and how challenging it was and how surprisingly good I was if I say so myself.

However, it would be over 20 years before I took up badminton again – and that was thanks to Shuttle Time.  I had been playing volleyball competitively for several years and had injured my knee and while in recovery my sister who was a teacher asked me if I could help make up their badminton team. Shuttle Time had just been introduced to their school and the teachers had joined the local business competition but were short of men.  So, I decided I would join in.

Memorable Moment

It was my first Oceania Championships in 2015 as it was the first time I had seen a live badminton match at an international level.  It was awesome and scary at the same time.  It was an eye-opener in so many ways to think that one day we could have players just as good as these.

Why Badminton is Special

Badminton opens doors for our young players; it also helps develop good social skills. I think badminton is underestimated and a misjudged sport here in the Cook Islands as many grew up playing it outside and considered it just a novelty sport. But it takes skill to play; people who step on court for the first time are taken aback by how technical it is. 

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that the simple act of giving a child a racket and shuttle can bring so much joy and that’s where dreams begin. 

Follow the latest updates and development with Badminton Cook Islands on their Facebook page.

Badminton Cook Islands pay it forward to support the unemployed

Badminton Cook Islands are celebrating tremendous growth in the sport following a global pandemic which saw people rush on to courts and prioritise health and exercise once lockdown restrictions eased in country earlier this year.

After a three-week lockdown earlier this year, only non-contact sports were originally allowed to take place, seeing the inception of a popular female-only club (which had to run twice a week due to popularity).

Moreover, the Cook Islands National Olympic Committee became the first nation in the world to run a national multi-sport Games since the pandemic brought the world to a halt – the Cook Island Games – with badminton being a part of their eclectic sporting programme and over 100 players competing.

Consequently, participation in the Business House competition has soared – with a record 24 teams competing.

Targeted at local businesses, families and groups of friends, ‘Business House Competition’ is a local team event which took place once a week for 5 weeks in November, in an effort to reach new audiences and bring more talent to the court.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic and the nation’s huge struggle with the loss of tourism has made the community element of badminton the essence of their activities, including paying tourism staff who have been made redundant (as a result of the global pandemic) to assist the delivery of increased badminton sessions in the country.

“With all the new interest we are trying to make the game a lot more accessible, especially during the day. We run three daytime sessions which has allowed us to help those who have become unemployed to make some money.

“They can oversee the sessions and ensure the facilities remain clean, which also helps to build the relationship with the facility owners, seeing as we are constantly booking more courts” , says Badminton Cook Islands President, Thomas Ngauru.

“I am more than happy to be helping the association, while able to earn some money on the side. Every bit goes a long way, especially during this COVID-19 period”, says new recruit, Nooroa Vakatini.

Moreover, residents across the Cook Islands are using exercise as a way to cope with the uncertain future.

“There are also a lot of people who have reduced hours and are just sitting at home who can now benefit from the physical and mental effects of playing badminton”, continues Thomas.

Badminton Cook Islands is currently hosting their Open National Badminton Championships and continues to plan for future social, female-only and business house sessions in 2021 – with the recent BWF Membership Grants also assisting their increased delivery.

Follow the latest updates from Badminton Cook Islands on their Facebook page.

Badminton Cook Islands deliver successful Mixed Team event at Cook Island Games

This year, the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee (CISNOC) collectively decided to host a national Games for the first time, building on other formats like the ‘Manea Games’ which are a quadrennial Games for a group of five southern islands.

Invoking the Olympic values to bring people together, especially during the time of a global health pandemic, eleven islands came together for the three week event which takes place throughout October 2020.

The Cook Islands are one of 18 countries which are currently COVID-free, capitalising on the opportunity to unite their people through sport.

“The only country in the world that is able to put on an event of this magnitude at this very point in time“, says CISNOC President, Hugh Graham.

Badminton Cook Islands were called upon to deliver badminton’s inclusion in the Game’s programme in the form of a mixed team event and part of the 24 sports in total.

It was a telling sign of badminton’s fantastic progress in country as all eleven islands competed in the event – with each island registering a maximum of 4 men and 4 women and up to 3 reserves, meaning a total of 111 players in total.

Not only were Badminton Cook Islands and the Executive Board responsible for running the competition, the majority were competing too.

“We were responsible for the running of the competition: deciding what format would be used, what divisions would be competing, draws, how many days it would run & venue etc”

“Everyone including board members were eager to represent their islands and were also there to help with setup.  CISNOC provided support and funding to all National federations to assist with equipment, catering for volunteers and officials and uniforms”, says President, Thomas Ngauru

Elsewhere, Shuttle Time participants and junior national players who are part of Badminton Oceania’s Player Development programme were among the teams competing for the elusive title as Cook Island Game champions.

“All our Oceania Player Development Squad members competed for their various Islands, namely Danniel Daniel (Manihiki), Vaitoti Tupa (Atiu), Eleanor Wichman (Mauke), Tereapii Akavi (Mitiaro) and Tehani Matapo (Mauke). We also had the remaining under-19 and under-15 squad members competing as well as our AIMS Games 2021 team members” continues Thomas.

It was the team from Mitiaro Island who took the title. Unsurprisingly, the winning team consisted entirely of Rarotonga based players who are members of our U19 and U15 national squad players, including AIMS Games 2019 medallists (Tereapii Akavi and Tuaana Mitchell) and competitors (Daniel Akavi), alongside Damus Matakino who competed at the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2020.

Final Results

Cook Island juniors put through their paces with six month physical training programme

This week, junior players from the Cook Islands would have been making history as the first team to represent their country at the Barfoot & Thompson BWF World Junior Championships 2020. The event was originally set to take place in Auckland, New Zealand, from 28 September – 11 October 2020, but the event has been postponed until 11 – 24 January 2021.

The annual World Junior Championships fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, like many other sporting events, including the postponed AIMS Games and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Morani Karika and Vaitoti Tupa at the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2019

It came as a huge blow to the enthusiastic Cook Island players who have made significant progress since their participation in the VICTOR Oceania Championship 2019 and 2020 edition. Subsequently, they have been part of Badminton Oceania’s Tier 3 programme in the player development pathway which has included attending development camps in New Zealand and the AIMS Games Championships in 2019 – where they returned home with some medals.

Tier three aims to bring junior players from selected Pacific Island countries together into a performance training environment and build a progressive and positive training culture linked with tournament experience at a level above what is available in-country.

To combat these missed opportunities from 2020, the juniors were enrolled onto a physical testing programme with the support of a professional physical coach. The weekly sessions will span over six months, aiming to improve the various fitness elements involved with the complex sport of badminton.

“The Cook Islands responded well to the pandemic and the players were able to return to badminton faster than most of our other members. Therefore, we worked with Badminton Cook Islands to set up this initiative to maintain the players progress and keep them motivated“, says Badminton Oceania Development Manager, Robbie Thackham.

The physical coach is putting the players through the paces in regular strength training session in the gym. Additionally, the players are tested every eight weeks to measure their progress using some of the following tests:

  • Yoyo Test: Participants run between markers placed 20 metres apart at increasing speeds until exhaustion. This is useful for badminton players to test and improve their aerobic endurance, which is essential for the long hours of training and rallies involved in the sport.
  • Vertical Jump Test: Players jump straight up and reach with their hand to touch the highest point of a measuring device, in comparison to their standing reach height. This measures their progress in lower body power which is important in badminton for the fast recovery of deep lunges and excessive jumping.
  • Horizontal jump test: Similarly, the horizontal jump is used to measure players progress with explosive leg power which allows players to manoeuver around the court quickly.

The players have only been participating in the sessions for approximately two months, with funding to participate in the intense training sessions for six months. However, the players have already started to show significant improvements.

In the YoYo tests, AIMS Games medalists from 2019, Tehani Matapo and Tereapii Akavi have already improved their results (from level 14.1 to 14.3) to surpass the average standard for Under-15 players. Similarly, their sixteen-year-old compatriot Eleanor Wichman has bettered her results by half a level to surpass the average standard for Under-19 players.

Moreover, Shane Pederson and Zarrian Heather-Rau have already improved on their first score by over one level – exceeding average scores for Under-19 players and the Oceania average.

You can follow more progress of the juniors on the Badminton Cook Islands Facebook page.

Cook Islands launch mid-week ladies sessions to cope with demand for badminton

Pictured: Liana Eggleton (left) and Lovelyn Gatchalien (right). Photo Credit: Cook Island News

Cook Islands Badminton Federation continue to disrupt their nation’s sporting landscape with innovative ideas to improve badminton’s popularity across the country.

Last month, their plans to adapt to the ‘new normal’ were celebrated as they managed to capitalise on the sports non-contact element, making it a more attractive sport in this COVID-19 era. Shuttle Time sessions had become so popular, they had to move to a bigger venue and run a tournament to cater for the added interest from parents who took their kids to Shuttle Time sessions.

Now the team have gone one step further to launch a ‘ladies sessions’ to meet the added demand for rackets and shuttlecocks.

Known primarily for their stunning resorts, beaches and oceans, the Cook Islands are taking a hit with tourism, meaning there are several people with more free time who also want to lead a healthier lifestyle, according to Badminton Cook Islands President, Thomas Ngauru.

The sessions, which originally took place once a week on Wednesday mornings, have proved so popular that they have added another weekly session on Fridays too. They are targeted at mothers who want to give the sport a go and don’t have time in the late afternoon.

“It is a low impact sport, but a lot of fun and competitive. People have the perception that badminton is quite a lofty game and soft, but no, you’ve got to do the work”

“It’s not just about badminton, it’s about creating opportunities for others”, says Thomas.

Ngauru continues to say that it also provides a safe space for those who are struggling with the impact of COVID-19, providing an opportunity to share experiences and temporarily escape reality.

Their momentum of badminton comes at a great time, as many players across the country are preparing for the Cook Islands Games, which take place from 3-17 October in Rarotonga.

Badminton is among 21 sports to be included in the reboot of the Games, with ambitions to further develop domestic athletes who are based in the Cook Islands and have missed out on further opportunities this year due to COVID-19 – which includes many of the participants from the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2019 and previous Pacific Junior Development Camps.

Text adapted from Cook Islands News

Follow the latest updates and development with Badminton Cook Islands on their Facebook page.