‘Most prepared delegation’ going to Palau

Michael White may have stopped short of announcing that the CNMI delegation to the 2005 Palau South Mini Games is the best the Commonwealth could ever assemble for the quadrennial event; he, however, went on the record that it is the most prepared.

The president of the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association said, “as a group, the delegation is the most prepared” for the Mini Games he has ever had the pleasure to be a part of.

White, who would serve as chef de mission of the 129-strong contingent, said NMASA’s foresight to begin planning and preparations a year ahead of the Palau competition, and its requiring of coaches of participating sports to faithfully report about the progress of their training has contributed immensely to the delegation being the most equipped to participate in the Mini Games.

He said NMASA required sports federations to appoint their coaches and nominate their athletes well in advance of the dates the South Pacific Games Council set aside for participating countries to submit the said names.

White also said that the CNMI’s sports governing body also had the individual sports start updating NMASA about the progress of their training a year even before the Mini Games was about to start.

That requirement couldn’t have hit White closer to home when his favorite sport, basketball, became one of the first casualties, after the NMASA board found out that there was no standing men’s national team and the women’s team opted for development rather than be crushed by the high-level of women’s competition in Palau.

Basketball and weightlifting are the only two sports the CNMI would not be sending athletes to in the Mini Games.

The 10 sports the CNMI would be competing in in Palau are athletics, baseball, beach volleyball, lawn tennis, outrigger canoe, softball (men’s and women’s), swimming, table tennis, and triathlon.

Both the men’s and women’s softball team is the biggest group the Commonwealth would be sending to Palau, as it is made up of 42 athletes, coaches, and officials.

The CNMI National Baseball Team coached by Jason Gay is next with 25, followed by outrigger canoe with 15, which includes coach Ed Johnson. Coach Michael Stewart would be sending 10 swimmers to Palau, while lawn tennis and triathlon will have six participants each, including playing-coach Jeff Race of tennis and manager/coach Deena Samoyloff of triathlon.

Beach volleyball has five led by points leader Kittinan Intharaluk. Coach/manager Steve Lim will have three players competing in table tennis, which matches the four-man team athletics would be sending, led by coach Elias Rangamar. Wrestling, for its part, will have three going to Palau.

Eight persons, meanwhile, are listed as officials, VIPS, and media led by White and Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Secretary Juan L. Babauta.