Bill Sakovich is back home

Bill Sakovich returned to Saipan early this month to share his considerable organization skills in sporting events scheduled for this March and April as well as revisit old friends and old haunts in a place he and his wife Jean called home for 30 years.

The Saipan Swim Club founder and former Division of Sports and Recreation director retired last year and moved to Hilo, Hawaii. But 10 months since leaving Saipan, Sakovich has been as busy as ever.

As soon as he helped Jean settle down in their “retirement home,” Mr., as his swimmers fondly call him, packed his bags again—this time for a trip to Chuuk and Marshall Islands, where he helped the two nations’ sports programs get off the ground.

“In the Marshalls, it was trying to help them organize their sports like here, so they could become an Olympic Committee and in Chuuk, it was just teaching them the ropes about sports administration, just basically getting them organized,” he said.

Sakovich’s tour of the two Micronesian countries was paid for by the International Olympic Committee and was part of his new responsibility as a consultant for the region.

Back in Hilo, Sakovich returned to his first love—coaching, as he and Jean mentored high school students. He at Waikea High School and Jean at Hilo High School.

“I’ve been coaching high school sports. High school sports is very big [in Hilo] but strictly limited. You could only go at the most 2-3 months a year. You could only start a certain date and also finish a certain date. But despite that, I had five swimmers qualify for the state meet,” he said.

Sakovich said in some ways Hilo is much like Saipan and that has helped them transition to their new life in Hawaii.

“Yeah, we missed the islands. But I have to admit that Hawaii is nice, especially the big island. I think it’s laid back enough you’re not getting into the big-city life. Saipan is an island, it’s a country area and Hilo is also,” he said. “And then Jean’s family is there. We both lived and worked there before, so it’s not like we were going somewhere we’ve never been before.”

Aside from coaching high school teams and spending time with Jean’s family, whose 97-year-old mom is still pretty much around, the Sakoviches have also continued with their active sports lifestyle.

“We tried to do biking once or twice a week, running a few times a week, swimming once or twice a week. But I always think it’s not enough. Partly because when we finally moved into the new house, a lot of our time was spent getting organized and what have you. And at the end of the year, we started putting the lawn in. Making a yard and it was all like lava rock,” he said.

Sakovich said Mrs. will join him on Saipan this April 20 and the two will help with organizing the upcoming Tagaman and XTERRA Saipan Championships.

The former secretary general of the South Pacific Games Council already lent his expertise in the Micronesian Cup a few weeks ago and is again leaving no stone unturned making sure this Saturday’s Saipan Ocean Swim goes on without a hitch.

“I miss the people and the activities. Yeah, we missed the island a lot and it’s really great to be back home.”