There may be no sheep in the Cook Islands but the small nation will hold its first national shearing and woolhandling show later this month.
The competition is being organised by Cook Island woolhandling representative Tina Elers and Southern Shears secretary Sharon Hillis.
The event would be held after the Southern Shears in Gore.
In 2017 and 2019, Cook Island shearers and woolhandlers who work in New Zealand, including Ms Elers, entered a team in the world championships.
The nation needed to organise a national event so it could be represented on the Golden Shears World Council, Mrs Hillis said.
‘‘It’s a bid to get on to the world council so we can have our say on behalf of the Cook Islands.’’
If the nation was a member of the council it would also be able to provide judges for the world championships, Ms Elers said.
This year’s competitors for the national show in Gore had already entered.
‘‘They had to compete in four shows before the Cook Island event,’’ Mrs Hillis said.
It was very exciting to be organising the first show, they said.
‘‘There’s a lot of passion for this,’’ Mrs Hillis said.
From the show a team of two shearers and two woolhandlers would be chosen to represent the nation at the world championships in Scotland later this year.
Mrs Hillis would be the manager of the team.
The team would be looking for sponsorship to attend the championships, they said.
