Tracy Atiga (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Helleur) is the CEO of Kanaloa Rugby, a Pacific Island-owned professional rugby franchise. She is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

n descent and has played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for

Early life

Tracy Lorraine Helleur Atiga was born in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. She was the daughter of Murray Helleur, a rugby coach, and is the sister of Jamie Helleur, who played rugby for

Auckland Rugby Union The Auckland Rugby Union is a New Zealand provincial rugby union. The union was established in 1883 and was originally responsible for the administration of the sport in most of the former Auckland Province, although its boundaries have since ...

in New Zealand, for the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and for

internationally. She attended

Epsom Girls' Grammar School , motto_translation = ''Through difficulties to greatness.'' , coordinates = , type = State Single Sex Girls Secondary (Year 9–13) with Boarding Facilities , established = 12 February 1917 , MOE = 64 , principal = Lorraine Pound , colo ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and, in 1998, won a New Zealand Radio Award for her work with another girl on a feature for the ''Te Puutake'' youth radio show. She married Matt Atiga, also a rugby player and a coach.

Career

As Tracy Helleur, she played rugby union for the New Zealand Māori seven-a-side team and rugby union for ''Manusina Samoa'', the

Samoa women's national rugby union team The Samoa women's national rugby union team is a national sporting side of Samoa, representing the nation at rugby union. The side first played in 2000. History Samoa has attended three World Cups, namely the 2002, 2006 and 2014 Rugby Wor ...

, taking part in the

2013 Women's European Qualification Tournament The 2013 Women's Qualification Tournament was the 18th annual rugby tournament organised by FIRA for the continent's national teams and also a qualification tournament for 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup. Six teams took part - the fifth and sixth ran ...

for the 2014

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. Atiga obtained a BA from the

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

(2014–17) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the same university between 2018 and 2020. Since 2007, she has had a wide range of roles, including with the Teachers Eastern Rugby Club; as a marketing consultant with

Tonga Rugby Union The Tonga Rugby Union is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Tonga. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. There is a rugby union playing population of fewer than 800 out of a total p ...

at the same time as her husband was coaching in

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

; with Auckland Council; with

Auckland University The University of Auckland is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest, most comprehensive and highest-ranked university in New Zealand and consistently places among the top 100 universit ...

; with the Samoan Sports Association and with the

Waiheke Island Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most pop ...

Recreation Centre. From 2015-19, Atiga was a trustee of the Counties Manukau Sport foundation and in 2020 a trustee of The Funding Network, which organises live

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

events. At the same time, she worked with her husband in a consultancy firm that provided community development support and heritage management. Together with

Motu Tony Motu Iosefo Tony (born 29 May 1981) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. He previously played in the NRL for the New Zealand Warriors and the Brisbane Broncos before playing in t ...

Kevin Senio Kevin Senio (born July 6, 1978) is a former New Zealand rugby union professional who most recently played professionally for ASM Clermont Auvergne. He is currently the head coach of Ponsonby Rugby club, based in Auckland, New Zealand. Senio is ...

and

Cynthia Ta'ala Cynthia Ta'ala (born 29 August 1974) is a sportswoman who has played rugby league for the New Zealand women's national rugby league team and has captained the Samoa women's national rugby union team, of which she is now its assistant coach. She ...

, Atiga is a founder-member of the Pacific Advisory Group, which was set up in 2017 to help bridge the gap between

Pasifika Pasifika may refer to: *Pacific Islander people, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands **Pasifika New Zealanders, Pacific peoples living in New Zealand *Pacific islands, including Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia *The Pasifika Festival, an an ...

and non-Pasifika players involved in rugby in Auckland. In April 2020, she became

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Kanaloa Hawaii Sports Entertainment, a

-owned venture, which endeavoured to join

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

in the USA with a team based in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The plans fell through but the company continues to seek the opportunity to place a team in other competitions.

References

External links

Atiga discussing Kanaloa Hawaii rugby team
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atiga, Tracy Living people New Zealand female rugby union players New Zealand women in business Samoa women's national rugby union team players Auckland University of Technology alumni Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)