Busy and super fun’ 2023 for va’a

The CNMI athletes out in the water who call it their second home had a “busy and super fun year,” according to the Northern Marianas National Paddle Sports Federation president Justin Andrew.

Paddlers tested the waters and raced in local and regional competition, as well as competing in the 2023 Pacific Games in Solomon Islands last November. Besides that, they successfully hosted another season of the Public School System Interscholastic High School Outrigger Race.

With a year full of experience that tested veteran paddlers and young up-and-coming paddlers alike, Andrew rated the year a seven on a 1-10 scale. He said, “although we did very well in regional competitions, we still have work to do to be competitive in international competitions, and that reflects our development programs to include local races and training.”

As 2023 was a busy year, Andrew said 2024 will be even busier. They are close to finalizing their sports calendar and hope to achieve the following: Host more local races, including the annual PSS Interscholastic Outrigger race; send athletes to the Micronesian Games in the Marshall Islands in June; send athletes (club level) to the World Sprints in Hilo, Hawaii in August; host the Annual Micronesia Cup in October, which Andrew said, “we are excited and look forward to this year’s hosting since our last hosting was in 2012.”

To add to all that, they also want to “collaborate with and to strengthen our private/public partnership including non-profit organizations to introduce the sports of paddling to promote health and wellness in our island community—and we also hope to include Rota and Tinian in the very near future.”

Reflecting on the past year, Andrew said it was one of the best years they’ve had so far and it would not be possible without the generous support of the community and their families.

“I would like to sincerely thank everyone in our community for their support of our paddling programs, and we would not be able to dedicate time and effort if it wasn’t for the untiring commitment and support of our families—thank you so much families,” he said. “The dedication and commitments of our athletes, and coaches is worthy of mention as they all work day in and day out to keep the sports of outrigger paddling alive.”

Lastly, Andrew gave special thanks to the NMNPSF board for all their time and efforts in making things happen for our membership. 2024 will be a repeat of 2023 but a little busier with a few big tickets on our calendar—and we look forward to seeing more interested paddlers come out to join the safe and fun sport of paddling. As we begin 2024 and finalize our calendar of events, we look to the heavens for all the blessings to allow us to have a fun and successful year full of paddling activities.