Play at Ada Gym to possibly return this weekend

With families whose homes affected by the recent wrath of Typhoon Nabi moving towards returning to their normal lives, the Division of Sports and Recreation will possibly resume games at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium this coming weekend.

This according to DSR director Tony Rogolifoi and staff Elias Rangamar, who both said yesterday that only four families remain sheltered at the facility.

Both said the families will transfer to the multi-purpose room—normally used for table tennis and judo—at the southern end of the building.

Rangamar reiterated what Emergency Management Office’s Juan Camacho said the day after Nabi’s winds hit Saipan, citing that immediately after the families are settled in the multi-purpose area, the gym will be cleaned up and sanitized.

“I can guarantee that there’ll be no games this week, until possibly the weekend,” he said, indicating that if all goes well, the 2005 MDX Amateur Radio Club Inter-Color Basketball League could resume play on Saturday.

In addition, Rangamar said if games do resume this weekend, he will begin revising the regular season games for both the Saipan Rotary Summer Youth Basketball League and the 2005 Budweiser Cup BANMI Men’s Island-wide Basketball League.

“If everything is okay, then I’ll have to revise the schedules so games can be played,” he said.

Rotary, MDX, and Bud Cup were the only activities that were ongoing before Nabi hit. Another league organized by the United Filipino Organization is also expected to kick off play this month.

While the Rotary league is heading into the second half of its regular season, the Bud Cup only has two games in the books. The season kicked off on Aug. 29 with a parade featuring the eight teams vying for the coveted crown.

Making impressive debuts were Michelob-Masters Construction and O’Duols-Ol’Aces, with Michelob rallying to beat two-time defending champion Bud Light-Toyota and O’Duols cruising past Budweiser-Wells Fargo.

Other teams include National Car Rental/Aon Insurance, which will battle Nissan Titans in their opener. The other two teams who will debut against each other are Hoopaholics and Masters Selection. The four teams were originally scheduled to play the day Nabi hit.

Meanwhile, Rogolifoi said the Ada Gym’s weight room facility is ready for use. The facility is open from 4:30pm to 8:30pm on weekdays.

Nabi’s wrath forced residents to flee form their homes and take shelter at various schools. The residents were then transferred to the Ada Gym to enable classes to resume after the typhoon had passed the island.