‘Physical fitness = better mental health’

For Miguel R. Muna, an active life is a healthy life. Whether on the baseball diamond, on the basketball court, or along the Beach Road Pathway, Muna said being active is a must to lead a healthy life.

“If your physical health is good, [then] your mental health gets better,” Muna said. “If I don’t do anything during the week, my body feels weird, so I would go and exercise, and when I’m done, I feel so much better.”

“When you are not fit, it opens the door to diabetes and other diseases,” he added.

Exercise and physical activity as a means to relax and unwind may on the surface appear contradictory but for Muna, it works for him like a charm, particularly in his field of work as an air traffic controller.

After completing high school in Seattle, Washington, Muna returned to Saipan and is currently employed as a flight service coordinator under the Commonwealth Ports Authority. He began as a flight service radio operator and weather observer in 1992. Five years later, he was certified by the Federal Aviation Agency as an air traffic controller and later became the first local air traffic manager.

“I guess you would say it’s like following in the footsteps of my father, Manny Diaz Muna, who was a radio operator,” he said.

With the workload at CPA, the 43-year-old Muna found it necessary for him to get relief through physical activities, and soon involved himself with the Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Saipan Little League Baseball programs. He even chaired the first two airport goodwill games.

“I played baseball when I was a young kid and it was fun,” he said. “I even made it to the Little League all-star team in 1974. I realized that many kids in Dandan were just lying around not doing anything, even though there were already two Little League teams from the area. So I saw there was a need for another team, and decided to do my part and three years ago, started another team to give the kids an opportunity to experience what I experienced.”

For the first two years of his involvement in the Saipan Little League, Muna coached the Dandan Mariners. The team then became Toyota Matrix, and will hold on to the moniker next season.

Muna has also been an active member of the BANMI board for the past five years, eventually becoming president on June of last year.

“We have a lot of leagues for the adults, but we keep our focus on the young kids and try to develop their skills,” he said. “These kids face a lot of distractions in television and video games, that when they get home from school, many go straight to the TV or start playing games. So we try to encourage kids to go out there and play sports to be physically and mentally fit. It’s better for them in the long run. Even walking is good.”

Several youth leagues are currently sanctioned by BANMI, including the 18-and-under Saipan Rotary Summer Youth Basketball League.

Muna’s daughter Mallory is also involved in basketball, recently playing under CPA’s flag in the Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Co-ed Basketball League, while son Matthew is part of his baseball team. His youngest son, Maverick, also tags along for many games and has shown interest in being active.

Muna also explained that he is excited BANMI continues to hold a league intended for individuals above the age of 35 years.

“For kids and adults, being involved in sports helps with discipline and also helps build friendship,” he said.