CNMI says goodbye with a song and dance

After a week of runs, hits, and errors, the 2005 Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament officially came to a close this past Friday as the entire contingent of Little League All-Stars met for one final time at the Global Area to honor the champions feast upon the international barbeque.

From the fields of Otani and Matobaike Stadiums, the teams from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the Philippines, New Zealand, Indonesia, Guam, and the CNMI got together around the barbeque pits to give this year’s champions their due before heading to the South Williamsport, Pennsylvania for the Little League World Series.

Local district administrator Kenji Kimura thanked everyone for making the trip to Japan to compete in the weeklong event and for displaying their talents as well as their manners both on and off the field.

Regional director B. H. Chow congratulated all of the participants, and invited them to play hard so that they may return to Hong Kong for next year’s tournament, and CNMI officials gave praise to the local tournament organizers for their attention to detail and for successfully hosting an increasingly challenging event.

“The tournament is the most difficult to pull off at this level because of the first-time teams and first-time players,” said CNMI district administrator James Ada as he reflected upon the hours spent analyzing forms, passports, and rules necessary for the event.

After tournament officials tipped their hats to Guam and Japan, the closing ceremonies took on more of a feeling of the final day of a family reunion, as the players and parents got into their own circles and swapped stories of the week that was.

While they were all mingling across the campus, each team reunited for the talent portion of the day. While Guam sang a song from Malafunction, the Hong Kong team built a human pyramid and recited the Little League pledge. The kids from Chinese-Taipei did a dance for the crowd, the Philippines did the Otso-Otso, Thailand players demonstrated their traditional fighting, and the CNMI roared to life with their team chants followed by some fancy footwork by the dancing Anthony Salas that wowed the crowd.

When the team activities were complete, the youngsters began to interact with their international counterparts in the complete embodiment of the spirit of the tournament, as the weeklong affair seemed to be less about the baseball and more about the bonds forged through it.

After watching the youth congregate in the commons for five minutes it became abundantly clear that despite different names and different colored uniforms, the kids from Taiwan were really no different than the kids from Tanapag.

By the end of the afternoon, kids from New Zealand were sporting Indonesian uniforms, kids from the CNMI were wearing hats from all over the region, and players were comparing what they got in return for what they gave. While each of the players had a unique cache of collectables, all of them shared one common souvenir by trading smiles.