Turtles back Aitutaki into 7s

The Aitutaki sevens squad will be one of the teams to watch out for over the three-day Sevens in Heaven tournament.

And they will certainly be hard to miss on the field in their gold jerseys featuring stunning tribal designs and of course their Aitutaki flavour of sevens will also be a stand out feature.

And for all you passionate Aitutakians keen to support your team at tournament – the team’s full kit from jerseys to shorts and socks can be bought at Turtles Tees along with other supporters gears.

You never know – you could well be called in to boost the team or you could win the best supporters group competition during the competition.

The road to the Sevens in Heaven tournament has been a challenging one for the team from Aitutaki who are all involved in the rebuild of the island devastated by Cyclone Pat in February.

Since the cyclone struck – the community at large has come together to help the island in whatever way they can.

At Turtles Tees, Chris McKinley and his team came up with the Aitutaki Cyclone Appeal t-shirts to raise funds for the island.

The campaign raised just over $5000 but Turtles wasn’t ready to give the funds to just anyone and decided to keep a hold of it until a worthy opportunity to use it arose.

When Mike Henry of Aitutaki enquired about uniforms for the Aitutaki team who were entering the sevens tournament – McKinley decided that this was the right time to use the Aitutaki Cyclone Appeal t-shirt funds.

Together, Turtles Tees designer Mahai Daniel and Aitutaki rugby stalwart Messine Manapori came up with the tribal design on the jersey which the team will sport with pride during the tournament.

The team’s jersey was blessed on the island by Orometua Charlie Teopenga in a special ceremony where the team hosted their employers for generously allowing the players to travel to Rarotonga and represent their island in the sport.

Without the backing of generous supporters like Turtles and businesses that employ the players namely Pacific Resort, Air Rarotonga, Lagoon Resort and Spa, Tamanu Beach, R&R Maki, and Paul Maoate Contractors – the players wouldn’t be able to represent their island and country nationally and internationally.

And all you hardcore Aitutaki supporters can also stand out at the Sevens Heaven tournament in your very own gear.

Get down to Turtles Tees in Panama and kit yourself out with the full Aitutaki sevens gear or Aitutaki supports apparel and Gap It to the BCI Stadium for the Sevens in Heaven tournament.