Cook Islands rugby league skipper Kiana Takairangi is dedicated to nurturing the athletic talents of young people, championing the importance of physical activity and community engagement.

Kiana and her older brother Brad Takairangi made history in October last year when they captained the Cook Islands women’s and men’s national teams, respectively, at the 2024 Pacific Championships.

“It was amazing making history,” said Kiana, “so, that was very exciting and a proud moment for my family. It was an unreal experience and something that I’m very grateful for.”

Does she ask her brother for advice? “To be honest, not really,” Kiana said. “He tries to give me some when he feels like I need it but how much I listen to him, I don’t know… but it’s very cool that we both got to play at the highest level and captain our nation together.”

Kiana and her best friend Corban Baxter, Australian international rugby league footballer, founded CK (Corban & Kiana) Athletic Development, combining their experience and knowledge to help inspire, guide and support athletes of all ages in reaching their goals.

“That’s what I do for my living back home (Sydney), and I love it. I love helping inspire the youth and trying to help them achieve their goals,” she said.

The CK Athletic Development programme delivers speed and agility programmes and rugby league skills sessions in Sydney’s south, with a focus on maximising athletic potential and improving athlete confidence.

Recently, Cook Islands rugby league internationals Zane Tetevano and Tiana Penitani, the Takairangi siblings and Baxter, visited the Cook Islands for the CK Athletic Development Junior Rugby League Clinics in Rarotonga and Aitutaki.

Kiana said that in 2019, while she and Baxter were on holiday in Rarotonga, they noticed the kids running around, so happy, and thought how cool it would be to conduct their programme there.

“So that kinda inspired us,” she said.

This year marks the third consecutive year that they have been running the clinics locally for the kids.

Earlier this month, more than 100 children gathered at the National Stadium in Nikao for the Junior Rugby League Clinic.

“We’re passionate. We feel like we’ve played at the highest level and we want to give back and inspire the next generation and encourage them that with hard work you can do whatever you want,” Kiana said.

The women want to create a pathway for Cook Islands children to go to Australia and make the elite level, “because we know that naturally Cook Islanders have so much talent”.

“We’re gifted naturally, we have that athletic ability, but we need to kinda nurture that talent and make sure that we have pathways for our kids to come through and be able to play at the highest level.”

For the first time, last week, the CK Athletic Development Junior Rugby League Clinics was run in Aitutaki.

“It was such a great day. There was close to 100 kids that came out to play and a lot of the community came along to help out and support us. It was really well received, we had the best day,” Kiana said.

The clinic and trip to Aitutaki was also a tribute in the memory of their friend, NRL player Cook Islander Troy Dargan, who tragically died after crashing his motorcycle near Aitutaki airport, at around 1am on Christmas Eve, 2023. Known as TJ, the 26-year-old was on holiday with his family.

“Troy was a friend of ours and obviously, with his tragic passing, this was perfect, to do the first tournament there in his memory.”

The CK Athletic Development t-shirts were printed with TJ Dargan on the back.

The Most Valuable Players of the 2025 Troy Dargan’s 9s Tournament in Aitutaki were Dawn Tare (men’s) and Edon Teraitua (women’s).

The Takairangi’s have a younger sister Maiana. They have Cook Islands heritage from their father, Louie Takairangi, who was born in Atiu, and played for Parramatta in the NRL competition. Their mother is Susan Rewi from the Wairarapa, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Kiana was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. She grew up surrounded by league since both her father and brother played the sport.

“A lot of my childhood was always based on football but always supporting the boys. Girls didn’t play when I was growing up but now times have changed from when I was growing up and there’s a lot more opportunity, girls can play from a much younger age.”

Kiana, 32, didn’t start playing until she was about 22 or 23 years old.

After high school, she began a career in personal training before moving to the United States for a three-year stint working on super yachts, and two seasons of American football in Los Angeles.

She made her test debut at the 2017 World Cup in Australia for the Cook Islands.

“It was unreal, it was completely new,” she said.

In 2017, she “happened” to be home in Sydney at a time when the trials were on and ended up getting selected.

She decided to move home from the US to make sure she was there for the World Cup and “that’s when my journey started”.

This past year, she played in the NRL Women’s Premiership with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, for a “not too bad season”.

Kiana also played for the Cronulla Sharks for a number of years, and before that, for the Newcastle Knights and was fortunate to win a premiership with them.

“It was a really cool experience.”

A winger or centre, she has represented the Cook Islands and New Zealand internationally.

Kiana and her team are looking forward to returning to both Rarotonga and Aitutaki for more training clinics.

CK Athletic Development would like to thank and acknowledge the sponsorship and support from Tamanu Beach Aitutaki, Rino’s Rentals, The Edgewater Resort and Spa, Rejuvenate, Air Rarotonga, and the wonderful Vaipae Sports Club for their support.