Travel bubble a boost to sport in the Cook Islands

The Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee (CISNOC) are feeling a sense of relief, with a travel bubble with New Zealand less than two weeks away.

The bubble will open on 17 May, with Air New Zealand offering flights from 18 May, allowing two-way quarantine-free travel between both countries.

CISNOC Secretary General, Owen Lewis, said federations have suffered financially because of Covid-19, and the travel bubble means competitions can now resume.

“These events are the financial arm of our federations to a large degree, they use it to raise funds and to sustain them for the rest of the year and I think the bubble is going to make a huge difference to our federations financially,” he said.

“But also, it allows our athletes to get competition and it will allow our federations to send teams to New Zealand again.”

Lewis said plans to resume events were scheduled well before the travel bubble was announced, and the nation was excited to restart competitions which haven’t been played in over 12 months because of Covid-19.

“I know that as soon as the bubble was going to be lifted, back on the agenda comes the the netball, the Round Raro, the Sevens in Heaven, but also our triathlon federation has decided to run the first multi sport of its kind in July or August,” he said.

“The fund-raising for the federation comes through the entries that New Zealand provides and supporters come over as well, so it’s an influx of people and that’s really positive for not only the economy here, but also for our sports federations.”

The travel bubble will also help lift the competition of the seven athletes set to represent the Cook Islands at the Tokyo Olympics this year, he added.

Two of the seven athletes are based in country, with four in New Zealand and one in Australia.

Lewis said having the opportunity to compete against other athletes is crucial for their preparation.

“We’ve been allowed to train here for a while… but you can only compete against each other for so long before it becomes a little more monotonous and you don’t get much from it.”

“So having the opportunity to compete is immense and [the bubble] makes it even easier in a lot of ways with a few more flights to choose from.”

“I think they they’re going next week the to do some training over in New Zealand and then they’re coming back.”