Ta Kilikiki

‘Ta Kilikiki’ is the Niuean translation for cricket. In Samoan, it is ‘kilikiti’. Kilikiki is played in a traditional and cultural way. It is a summer sport that can be played by children starting from the age of 11 and upwards. With ‘kilikiki’ there are around about 20 - 25 players on each side, that challenge each other to see who will win the game. In Niue it is a village competition to see which village will win the overall title for the island, and the islanders in Niue take ‘kilikiki’ very seriously.

The equipment that you need for ‘Ta Kilikiki’ are TAU OLO (6 wickets, 3 on each side), UA E PAKE (2 bats) which are half long circle bats made by each team who are competing, FA E KA KAHO (4 bamboo sticks), 2 balls. When the game starts the 2 players who are first to bat come up and stand in front of the wickets ready to bat, and then there are 4 players two on each end holding the long bamboo sticks ready to run when the batters hit the ball these runners are called TALI POE they are the ones who get the points for the batter.

 All the batter does is hit the ball and stay`s while the TALI POE run`s and gets the points, if they get out then that batter is out and has to swap with another player who is waiting on the sideline with their team and who is going to bat next. The opposition team have TAU TAGATA SEKA which are the bowlers, one on each end who try their best to get the batter out. The rest of the players from the opposite team are the fielders who also try their best to get the batters from the other team out by spreading out and trying to catch or stop the ball from scoring high points for the other team.

When all the team members have batted then it is time to swap over so the other team who were bowling and fielding end up batting. If they reach the other teams score than the game is over and that team win. A very similar game to cricket but with a traditional twist.  And thats how you play ‘Ta Kilikiki’. I had a little help from mum with the Niuean Translations.