Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

is the national sport and most popular sport in the Cook Islands, with soccer and

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 it ...

as the next most popular/played sports. In September 2009, the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

hosted the

2009 Pacific Mini Games The 2009 Pacific Mini Games was held in the Cook Islands from 21 September to 2 October. It was the 8th edition of the Pacific Mini Games. Torch lighters were the athletes Daniel Tutai and Patricia Taea, the Cook Islands' junior sportsman and ...

. Cook Islands Sports National Olympic Committee is the official governing body of sport in the Cook Islands.

Types of football

Rugby league

is the national sport and the most popular sport in the Cook Islands. The Cook Islands were introduced to rugby league in 1988, when the Cook Islands national rugby league team played their first match against the New Zealand Maori team. In the mid-1990s, rugby league in the Cook Islands received significant funding through the SuperLeague organisation; however, money from this source is no longer available. The greatest event in the history of Cook Islands rugby league – and probably Cook Islands sport more generally – was the victory in the 1995 Emerging Nations Rugby League World Cup, held in the United Kingdom. Cook Islands emerged victorious 22–6 over Ireland in the Final held at Gigg Lane, Bury, on 24 October 1995. In more recent times, the Cook Islands national rugby league team has received a major boost through the involvement of former professional rugby league players

Kevin Iro Kevin Leslie Iro (born 24 May 1968), also known by the nickname of '"The Beast", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level for New Zeala ...

and

Matt Rua Matthew Rua (born 20 July 1977) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New Zealand international representative forward, he played in the National Rugby League for the Melbourne Storm, w ...

(both native Cook Islanders), in the form of selector and defensive coach for the national side. Both players represented New Zealand internationally and played many

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

games. Rugby league also receives much time on television in the Cook Islands, with four NRL games shown per week, fuelling the popularity of the sport amongst the islanders. The Cook Islands national rugby league team made their senior World Cup debut in 2000 and played in their second world cup in the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's Festival of World ...

. They competed again in the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £ ...

in England where they recorded one win from three matches.

Rugby union

The Cook Islands is a tier-three

playing nation. They began playing international rugby union in the early 1990s, and have yet to make the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

. The

Cook Islands Rugby Union The Cook Islands Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in the Cook Islands. It was founded in 1989 and became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1995. The Cook Islands Rugby Union are also members of the Pacific Islands Rug ...

is the governing body for rugby union in the Cook Islands. It was founded in 1989, and became affiliated to the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international ru ...

in 1995.

Association football (soccer)

The

Cook Islands Football Association The Cook Islands Football Association is the governing body of football in the Cook Islands. History The Association was founded in 1971. In 1994, the CIFA became a member of FIFA. The Associations headquarters and Academy were opened in 20 ...

is the governing body of football in the Cook Islands. The

Cook Islands Round Cup Tower Insurance Premiership is the top division of the Cook Islands Football Association in Cook Islands. The winner qualifies for the OFC Champions League. Current champions Nikao Sokattak F.C. won the 2021 Tower Insurance Premiership. Competi ...

is the top division in the Cook Islands, and the

Cook Islands Cup Cook Islands Cup is the top knockout tournament of the Cook Islands Football Association in Cook Islands. Cook Islands Cup winners *1950: Titikaveka *1951–77: ''Unknown'' *1978: Tupapa Maraerenga *1979: Titikaveka *1980: Matavera *1981: A ...

is the top knock-out tournament.

Footballers of Cook Islands descent

The following list includes players of various codes of football. These include: * Pekahou Cowan * Robbie Fruean *

Carl Hoeft Carl Henry Hoeft (born 13 November 1974, in Auckland) is a former rugby union footballer from New Zealand, currently working as coach. His usual position was at loosehead prop. He was a part of the New Zealand national rugby union team squad at b ...

* Tafai Ioasa * James Kamana *

Johnny Leota Johnny Leota (born 21 January 1984) is a Samoan rugby union player who played for Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership. Leota was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand and made his international debut for Samoa in 2011; he has since won 20 ca ...

* Aaron Mauger * Nathan Mauger * Craig McGrath (Australian footballer), Craig McGrath * Ryan Nicholas * Henry Paul * Robbie Paul * Rene Ranger * Stephen Setephano * Teddy Stanaway * Lima Sopoaga * Stan Wright (rugby union), Stan Wright

Cricket

Cricket is played on Rarotonga, and some of the outer islands (where the rules are often similar to the sport of Samoan cricket or kirikiti). Most villages have teams, which compete in a league after the end of the soccer season. It is popular among the older generation. The Cook Islands national cricket team, men's and Cook Islands women's national cricket team, women's national teams play in ICC East Asia-Pacific tournaments.

Netball

Women's netball is a very popular sport in the Cook Islands, and the country has one of the world's top 10 teams, which competed in the 2007 Netball World Cup.

References

External links

Cook Islands Sports & National Olympic Commitee [sic
{{Cook Islands topics Sport in the Cook Islands