This year marks the 10th year of Rising Stars Championship for Netball, Rugby and Volleyball running tournaments with Primary and Secondary Schools in Rarotonga with over 1100 athletes expected to take part across all the sporting codes.

Due to the current weather conditions, the Rising Stars competition has been postponed and will start next week Friday, May 23 at 1pm at the Raemaru Sports complex in Arorangi, continuing to June 13 every Fridays for four weeks.

The secondary Schools rugby 7s contest will be held on Thursdays at the BCI Stadium.

Apii Arorangi, Apii Avarua, Apii Nikao, Apii Rutaki, Apii Takitumu, Imanuela Akatemia, St Joseph’s School, Te Uki Ou, Papaaroa College, Nukutere College, Titikaveka College and Tereora College will be participating in this year’s Rising Stars tournament.

For Rugby, the primary school student’s boys and girls 11U & 13U divisions will participate in quick rip, while the secondary school student’s boys 13U, 15U and 17U divisions will compete in Rugby 7s.

The championship will feature 34 netball teams. In rugby, there are 37 participating boys' teams and 7 girls' teams across all divisions.

The secondary school volleyball competition is scheduled for Term 2 on Thursdays from June 12 to July 3 at the TSA, seeing 19 teams battling it out for top honours.

 The primary school volleyball one-day tournaments will take place in Term 4.  It is anticipated that over 1100 athletes will be taking part across all the sporting codes. 

“It’s been amazing watching the tournament grow from just netball in 2016 to offering opportunities across three codes and a few islands in 2025,” reflected Jackie Rongo, Tournament Director.

Atiu is part of the Rising Stars tournament and had joined last year in Term 3, this year they will follow the Rising Stars programme set in Rarotong, running in Term 2.

Atiu kicked off their second Rising Stars Championship on May 2, running their tournament for all levels for six weeks across the three codes.

In 2016, the Rising Stars Championship was introduced with the support of Netball Cook Islands and community sponsors.

The initial goal was not only to promotes excitement, but to provide opportunities for talented local junior netballers to develop skills and a pathway to high performance while bringing netball interest back into the community.

In subsequent years, there was a desire to link up with the Cook Islands Rugby Union, which was a testament to how sports were run in the past where whole villages would move and support each other for the two codes.

In 2019, the Rising Stars Championship took a different tangent, moving from working with the clubs to directly with the schools to lift netball and rugby development.

However, Covid hit in 2020 and temporarily disrupted participation, nevertheless, subsequent years saw participation increase with the volleyball added on in 2023.

 “We are so grateful to our supporting partners and sponsors, namely our Platinum sponsors BCI and Vodafone as well as our Gold, Parau Pearl, Pipi Pearl, and Superstar sponsors, who make this tournament possible each year, and to MOE and schools as well as parents who support us in guiding our children through this competition.” Rongo shared.

Rongo continued, “The Championship has become a great platform to teach our children the importance of team-work, networking, discipline, healthy living by staying smoke free, sugar free and alcohol free, and to keep a clean green environment by utilizing reusable water bottles and picking up rubbish.  It takes our whole community to get behind this event to make it work, and we are so thankful for everyone who takes the time and care to make this happen. We are also hoping to expand to Aitutaki in the near future!”

“Looking forward to seeing our supporters on Friday at Raemaru Park!  Please also check out our Rising Stars Championship Facebook page for updates.”

PLATINUM: BCI and Vodafone; GOLD: Te Marae Ora, Rongohiva LED & Watersports, Kōrero o te ‘Ōrau, The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Lagoonarium; PARAU PEARL: Captain Tama’s Lagoon Cruizes, CITV, Creators Hype, Rongokura Productions, Akau Film, Moana Sands, CIPS Image and Copy Centre; PIPI PEARL: Kuki Tag Adventures, KiteSUP Watersports, Palm Grove, Rehab Bus, CITC, Ocean Toa, Turamatuitui Bakery; SUPERSTAR: The Edgewater Resort, VANS, RaroXpo, MOCD, Arorangi Sports Federation, Ariki Adventures, Island Craft, Cook Islands Tourism.