FIBA Oceania willing to help in Micro Games

Even though an organizing committee for the 2006 Micronesian Games has yet to be formed, FIBA Oceania has already expressed its willingness to help the CNMI stage the basketball competition of the quadrennial event.

“The Micronesian Games is not an event that belongs to FIBA or to FIBA Oceania. However, we are prepared once invited, to help the host to stage the competition in the same way we helped Palau stage the 2005 South Pacific Mini Games basketball competition,” according to FIBA Oceania executive director Steve Smith in a recent e-mail.

Smith said that like in previous competitions that FIBA Oceania was asked to provide its expertise, local involvement would once again be needed for the success of the basketball competition.

“As with most of the things we do, this needs to be a partnership between the local organizing committee and FIBA Oceania,” he said. “In fact, we already have made available a basketball event planning manual to BANMI (Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands] and we believe this provides useful advice and templates in preparation for the staging of such events.”

BANMI received the basketball event planning manual from Smith a couple of weeks ago when its president Michael Muna and vice president Elias Rangamar attended FIBA Oceania’s Administrators Seminar in New Zealand.

“There is no doubt that when requested we will send staff to help with the conduct of the [basketball] event. We can also help in the training of people prior to the event,” Smith reiterated.

While FIBA Oceania’s invaluable assistance for next year’s Micronesian Games is all but assured, it is still not certain where basketball would be played as the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium, which was built in 1990 during the revival of the Games, has seen better days and is in dire need of a major facelift.

In an earlier report, Division of Sports and Recreation director Tony Rogolifoi estimates that about $307,500 is needed to fix the venue.

The sum includes some $110,000 for the repair of the bleachers; $75,000 for the repair of restrooms, showers, and dressing rooms; $60,000 for repainting; $40,000 for weather proofing the constantly leaking roof; with the remainder of the proposed budget to be used for the installation of new ventilators, repair of roof gutters, replacement of volleyball standards, and repainting of the locker rooms.

Aside from basketball, other proposed sports for the 2006 Micronesian Games are athletics, baseball, beach volleyball, bowling, golf, outrigger canoe, women’s slow pitch softball, men’s fast pitch softball, spear fishing, swimming, table tennis, tennis, triathlon, volleyball, weightlifting, and wrestling.