Marianas teams get feet wet in Honiara

HONIARA, Solomon Islands—Team CNMI’s fogginess and exhaustion from Wednesday’s travel to Honiara, Solomon Islands for the 2023 Pacific Games were quickly washed away yesterday morning by the excitement of a new day to train and a full breakfast with their teammates.

“Train, train, train” is on the athlete’s minds as the break from phones and social media and classes allow them to focus more on their mission—haul in medals.

With no internet connection yet, athletes had to make do with asking the locals for directions and information—many of whom were knowledgeable and helpful, but all quite friendly despite a language barrier.

After breakfast, all 10 teams went their separate ways either to train or take care of a few things like exchanging currency or buying SIM cards.

Saipan Tribune tagged along with the tennis team who needed to train before their competition today. The shuttle from the athletes village to the National Stadium—where the track and field, tennis courts, swimming pools, and basketball/volleyball court are located—takes about 10 minutes to get to with minimal traffic.

The tennis team—consisting of playing coach Colin Ramsey, Moris Villanueva and junior players June Yu and Nason Wessel—went on to complete a two-and-a-half hour training session under the thankfully overcast sky, but severely humid morning.

Ramsey said on how the team feels heading into the competition, that they’ll be ready and do their best. Even with a young team, he said, the international experience they’ve garnered in the past will surely translate positively onto the Pacific Games stage.

As for the courts, he said it’s “faster” than they’re used to. Meaning, he said, the ball—when hit, travels and bounces faster than the American Memorial Park tennis courts where they held their practices. Villanueva said he should’ve trained at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan tennis courts where the courts are similar to the ones in Honiara.

The team then took a lunch break and rested later, then trained again at 4pm for another two-hour session.

Nearby the tennis courts is the swimming pool where water splashing and coaches coaching directions could be heard. There, all members of the young national swim team were doing laps with their coaches Richard Sikkel and Hiroyuki Kimura directing them from the sidelines.

The facilities, Sikkel said, was not there two months ago so it’s understandable that the host is working out the kinks. Other than that, he and coach Kimura said the team will be training twice a day—in the morning and afternoon until their competition days. Only after will they be able to enjoy the sights of Honiara.

Saipan Tribune caught up with other teams during lunch in the mess hall later.

Weightlifting coach Greg Borja said they got to take a look at the area they will be competing in. Antonette Labausa said they got to train and the whole place was set up for them nicely. The facility is ways off from the main National Stadium and from the athletes village.

Soccer’s Catherine Attao-Toves said their team’s training was yesterday at 4pm at the pitch near the athletes village.

As for va’a, team coach/athlete Justin Andrew said they had to negotiate with the Solomon Islands Canoe Federation in order to set up a time to practice out in the water at DC Park due to a limited number of canoes and time slots. Other than that, he looks forward to getting their feet wet and familiarizing themselves with the course and canoes.

Stay tuned for the results of each sport in the coming week.