Sakovich supports Olympic training site proposal

No less than legendary sports organizer and Saipan Swim Club founder and coach, Bill Sakovich, has given his two cents worth on the feasibility study authored by international consulting company Tucker & Associates: touting Saipan and Guam as training sites for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

“It sounds good but the CNMI must get on the stick and put some effort and money into making the sites more adequate for high-level training,” he said.

Sakovich went on to say that the new, state-of-the-art track and field at the Oleai Sports Complex would be fine for athletics if maintained well throughout. However, he said that the facility needs seating, security, and office and storage areas to accommodate Olympic teams.

The many-time Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association president and former Secretary General of the South Pacific Games Council also said that the Kan Pacific Swimming Pool in Marpi may have seen better days, but can still be utilized to some extent.

“The pool would be OK but needs better markings and renovation, maybe better for water polo, provided they [National Olympic Committee for water polo] bring more equipment,” he said.

Sports that don’t really need high-tech facilities or none at all—like triathlon, windsurfing, tennis, badminton, long-distance road running, and some of the martial arts—could also be accommodated by the CNMI, provided the respective NOCs bring their own equipment, he added.

Sakovich also said that sports like wrestling and shooting could easily be accommodated on the islands, but again secure areas for meetings and equipment would be necessary.

“Overall, I think it is a great opportunity for CNMI sports, even though they [Olympic athletes] may only be here for a few weeks. But individuals would probably come sooner and individuals trying to make the teams may even consider a visit in advance,” he said.

Sakovich noted that businesses on Saipan must also contribute towards the pitch. He said local hotels must provide reasonable rates and nutrition-packed meals for the athletes. Airlines must also accommodate equipment coming with the athletes and coaches and provide reasonable discounts for them, he added.

Other sports leaders in the CNMI also voiced their opinions about the Tucker & Associates proposal.

Jeff Race of the Northern Marianas Islands Tennis Association, for instance, is urging the government to do everything possible to convince the U.S. Olympic Team to make the islands a pre-acclimating site for the Olympics.

“This is the biggest opportunity to ever come along for the CNMI in so many ways. I hope that our leaders have the vision to take advantage of it.”

Saipan Bowling Association president Jerry Tan said Saipan’s non-cosmopolitan setting and relative isolation could work wonders in luring Olympic athletes training for the 2008 Games.

He agrees with Sakovich that athletes coming to Saipan to acclimate themselves to the Beijing Olympics don’t necessarily need the new facilities, as they just need a setting similar or nearly similar to the one they will be competing in, in this case Beijing.

Tan went on to say that Saipan is an ideal situation for athletes who don’t want to be distracted in the run-up to the Olympics. Tan said that was one of the reasons why the Irish National Soccer Team selected the island as training ground for its 2002 World Cup preparations.

Like Sakovich, Tan also stressed that security is important for Olympic athletes, and Guam and Saipan being U.S. territories, the islands offer the most security outside the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii.

Marianas Amateur Table Tennis Association president Steven Lim said Saipan and Guam offers Olympic athletes four things—security or the sense of it, the proximity of the time zones, the convenience of language for English-speaking participants, and isolation from fans, and critical media.

Lim, however, acknowledged that the cons far out-weight the pros. He said, having been to Beijing, he could confirm in all certainty that the climate on Saipan and Guam is nowhere like what it is in Beijing: even in the sweltering summer months.

He also said that, sadly, the training facilities and equipment on Guam and CNMI are not at a world-class level that an athlete preparing for the 2008 Olympics would want in order to prepare for competition at such a level.

In contrast, Lim said Hong Kong is also doing such a promotion for its own facilities, which are certainly way ahead of what Guam and the CNMI has to offer at this time. In addition, Hong Kong also offers all the infrastructure and fringe benefits athlete might expect.

Saipan Swim Club coach Mike Stewart seems to share Lim’s stand on Saipan’s lack of sports facilities.

“As for expecting U.S. Swimming to choose to come to Saipan would be very far fetched, with the current training facilities that we have. Regretfully stated, however our pool is sub-par at best for the U.S. Olympic Team to train in. Now a new facility, that would be the only way we may be considered,” he said.