Aitutaki volleys for Easter 4X4

Preparations have begun for the biggest sporting event on Aitutaki’s calendar and people from Rarotonga are being egged on to join the fun this year.

Volleyball nets have sprung up across the island this week, ready for the start of competition games between the villages.

It’s all being done – apart from having a bit of fun through the week, of course – in preparation of the Cook Islands News Easter Volleyball 4X4 competition in April.

The competition, which Cook Islands News has sponsored for the last two years, is held each year on Easter Monday in Aitutaki.

Organiser Rere Mataiti said it was the biggest event on the island’s sporting calendar in previous years and he expected it to again be so in 2012.

About 60 teams are expected to take part across the competition’s eight categories, which include the golden oldies men’s and women’s category; open women’s and open men’s; and under 16 and under 13 competitions for boys and girls.

Mataiti said the open categories were always the most hotly contended and he wanted to see some teams from Rarotonga join the classes for the first time.

He said with a little planning and some foresight, teams from Rarotonga would still be able to make the journey over to compete.

Team have six players each, with four people on the court and two substitutes waiting by.

Mataiti said the four-player teams and small courts made the matches all the more exciting to watch throughout the day.

Also worth mentioning is that every team that enters the competition will win a prize, with the more successful teams winning prizes of bigger values.

The small entry fee for teams have been a staple for previous years and Mataiti said the fees would remain affordable in 2012.

In previous years, teams have been asked to provide $30 for their entry fees with the money going towards team prizes.