The nation of the Cook Islands is an idyllic chain of 15 islands, covering a vast expanse of nearly 2,000,000 square kilometres of the South Pacific Ocean, in the Polynesian region of Oceania. The primary island of Rarotonga is home to the nation’s capital, Avarua, which played host to an in-country visit from 10-23 March as part of the relaunched Oceania Development Program. One of our new Oceania Development Officers, Hongbo Liang, led the program to complete his first mission.
The 14-day schedule was packed with activities, including:
- Player selection competitions for the upcoming 2025 ITTF-Oceania Championships.
- Training sessions for national team members.
- A meeting with the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee.
- A meeting with the Japanese Consulate of Cook Islands.
- Multiple school visits.
- Social Doubles Tournament to introduce new people to the game.
- Introductory rules and laws of the game sessions.
- Introductory tournament management sessions.
- Introductory player and coach training sessions.
- Assistance with developing organisational policies and guidelines.
Originally formed in 2004, the Cook Islands Table Tennis Association (CITTA) has been an ongoing competitor at the ITTF-Oceania Championships, Pacific Games, Pacific Mini Games over the past 20 years. Cook Islands players have previously qualified to represent Oceania at the World Cadet Challenge and were selected into the Oceania Talent Team. A new Executive were elected last year and they have hit the ground running in their bid to grow the game and take the organisation to a new level. With the right mix of skills, aspiration and enthusiasm in place, it is providing the best possibility to enable this.
Upon conclusion of the visit, CITTA President Danny Vakapora commented, “We are truly grateful for the support provided, and we view this visit as an important opportunity to refresh and strengthen both our organisation and the table tennis community. It has provided us with the much-needed capacity to reset and move forward better equipped for the future.”
ITTF-Oceania thanks ITTF for their support of the Oceania Development Program. This visit to Cook Islands provides a strong foundation, with the 2025 calendar quickly filling up and we look forward to servicing as many of our 24 Oceania Member Associations as possible.