NMIFA eyes new playing venue in coming years

The Northern Mariana Islands Football (Soccer) Association is hopeful that a new venue will be available for play in the coming years.

This according to NMIFA president Jerry Tan, who said during the association’s weekend clinic that plans are already in the works to construct a new soccer pitch.

Our big goal is to have our own—the NMIFA facility—just like Guam. They were able to build that a couple months ago,” he said. We’re looking to have our own soccer pitch so that we have the proper facility in order to conduct games and clinic.”

Tan is hopeful that the venue will be available within the next two to three years.

“I would say that if we can get it done within the next two to three years, that would be very good, but we have started working on it already in terms of reviewing what are the options, and that’s something that would definitely be one of the top priorities.”

The NMIFA president also reiterated the importance of having a proper venue for players to develop their skills.

“One thing we [NMIFA] know is that when you don’t have the right facility, it is hard to train and provide the right venue for the players to compete and to excel,” he said. So the venue is on top of our priority and we see what Guam is able to do, and of course, with a lot of support from the government, we can try to do the same.”

The clinic was conducted by professional coach and current Guam National team coach Norio Tsukitate, as well as former players and veteran coaches Frank Camacho, Hiroshi Katsumata, and Tino San Gil of the Guam Football Association, with the main purpose of teaching the basics and fundamentals of the game correctly.

About 250 players and over 20 parents took part in the clinic, with parents focusing on soaking knowledge as coaches.

“The first thing we need is to identify a good place for a pitch to practice and play,” Camacho said when asked what was needed for the sport to grow in the CNMI. “We definitely need some equipments…goal posts most especially because right now with the cones used as goals, it’s not so motivating, but when they see an object out there, the interest will be there more.”

Meanwhile, Tan disclosed that growing the sport in the CNMI is another goal that is being pursued by NMIFA.

“Last season, we had about 122 players, and my understanding is that as of [Sunday], we already have about 250 kids, so in terms of enrollment, it already doubled. In Guam, they have over 3,000 kids, and I would say that in Saipan, we can get at least 1,000 kids to participate in soccer,” he said.

“Youth soccer is very popular, even in America. Our organization would like to be able to grow the sport to the next level, also for the teenagers…not just for the youngster, even when they become an adult, we want them to be able to continue the sport, so they can develop and participate in the international tournament and be competitive. A lot of youngsters come out but because of lack of program, when they reach a certain age, they stop playing. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he added.

Meanwhile, NMIFA secretary general Peter Coleman stressed that because more players are taking up the sport, NMIFA is seeking assistance from interested individuals who can serve as coaches.

“We have about 20 parents, and we can still use more. Because we have such a large turnout of players, we’re likely going to have to create additional teams, which means we’re going to need additional coaches.”