A former Cook Islands rugby star and grandfather of 11, reflects on his journey as a father and husband, emphasising the importance of love, support and equality in family relationships

George George, also known as “The General” and regarded one of the greatest Cook Islands rugby players of all times, has achieved a lot on and off the field.

But the 67-year-old father of four and grandfather of 11 says that the greatest gifts he has earned in his life are his children and grandchildren.

And this year’s Father’s Day, on Sunday, is a reminder of his continued blessings and the opportunity to care for both his grandchildren and his children.

Speaking to Cook Islands News, George shares that having children was one of the best things that has happened in his life but having grandchildren was even better.

He says he gets to pour more of the love he hasn’t shared much with his children into his grandchildren.

“I may have been strict to my kids back then but I hope they know that the amount of love that was left which I may have not given to them, I’m giving it all to their children,” George says.

“As a father, I think I’ve been fair to my kid and overwhelmingly loving to all my grandkids. I tend to spoil my grandkids way more than I did with my own kids and I think I see myself as a father who has learned from having my kids because I was very strict with my kids.”

As a sportsman, George wanted his children to take up what he was doing and be better.

But he can’t see himself doing that with his grandchildren.

“My grandkids came along and I said they can choose whatever they want to become and I think I’ve learned from my kids as to how I conducted myself as a father,” shares George, who is now the CITC brand manager.

“I was strict and wanted more for my kids and there’s so many boxes I wanted to tick but I don’t think my kids wanted to follow everything I wanted to do.”

Having his first child in his mid-20s, George found it challenging to juggle his sporting career with fatherhood, having to look for babysitters or prioritise staying home to be a father to his child.

However, he managed to overcome those challenges, to fulfil his sporting goals, becoming one of the greatest Cook Islands rugby players, and win the hearts of his children and grandchildren.

“Financial was okay but most of my life as a father, the challenge was having to have babysitters to look after the kids because I was all in with my career at the time. I think that’s one of the challenges for me was having my family look after my kids while I was away for my career but I saw that as a hurdle for myself and my wife,” George explains.

“I think I have achieved the highest in my sporting career and now I’m wanting to become to promote myself to the best grandfather that I can be and look after my grandkids and just adore them.

“I’m a sucker when it comes to my kids with treats and things like that because I was an advocate in health and I’ve got specific things that I try to say no to but when it comes to my grandkids, it’s different.”

George acknowledges the support of his extended family, especially his wife, who he believes is the backbone of their family.

He adds that family is a huge part of any Cook Islander father’s upbringing, saying that if he hadn’t had that support, he would have ended up differently.

When asked about his biggest lesson as a father and a husband, George says it is to never lay a hand on his wife and to be a great ambassador for his children in building a loving family.

“I never hit my wife, and my kids had a bit of spanking here and there, but that’s part of teaching them something and I think the balance here is that as a father and the head of the house, you got to have a clear head, never ever to hit your wife,” he advises.

“I laugh a lot with my wife, kids and grandkids and I just know exactly what happens if I ever get to a point where I’m mad, I just get up and go or drive somewhere else and I make sure I don’t show that in front of my kids no matter how much they annoy me.”

George’s message to all the fathers for this Father’s Day is to love and support their wives, and prevent having favouritism among their children.

“Love your family, wife, kids and grandkids and love them all the same way,” he shares.

“I think what gets you in trouble is when you kind of pamper with other kids or where there’s favouritism somewhere or you most probably like one of your boys and not quite the other one. That’s going to get them in trouble because the kids have their own feelings so they quite easily see that you favour the other kid more than the other and it’s not having that same attention as the other sibling. I feel that in that sense, you as the dad should be totally equal to how you show your love for your kids. There shouldn’t be that discrimination among your kids.

“I think that here in the Cooks, the backbone is always the mothers. They do all the work and if us men need to show some sort of love and balance in the lifestyle at home, we should pick up some of the chores at home.

“You don’t want the wife to cook and wash the dishes … show some support for the wife because I think that’s the way we’re brought up. These days, we have equal rights and the women know their places at home.”

George, who is also the president of the Cook Islands Prostate Cancer Foundation and a men’s health advocate, encourages men to exercise and participate in sports for better health.