Sakovich returns to Saipan for multi-sport fest

Bill Sakovich just couldn’t stay away from Saipan and has returned to the islands he had previously called home for more than 30 years for the XTERRA Saipan Championship this weekend and Tagaman Triathlon the next.

“Tagaman asked me to come down and help out, and as in the past, I’ve been involved and kind a feel left out if I’m not involved so I’m down here to basically help out XTERRA and Tagaman, mainly Tagaman but if I can do something with XTERRA too, same thing,” he said during an interview yesterday.

Bill and wife Jean are founders of the Saipan Swim Club, with Bill also serving as director for the Division of Sports and Recreation and president of the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association.

With that, Sakovich’s return also gives him another golden opportunity to visit old friends.

“It feels really good. It’s nice and I really like living in Hawaii but there’s something about Saipan. We’ve spent half our lives here. We really miss the people down here and a lot of the activities that are going on. There’s just not that much on the Big Island, at least not on the Hilo side.

“It looks like Jean and I both may have to, if we want triathlon, we may have to start them ourselves. Swims and runs there’s a few, so there’s no problem there and we’ve done quite a few.”

Despite relocating to Hawaii, Sakovich says he and Jean continue to keep track of activities on Saipan through Internet and telephone conversations.

One of the founders of Tagaman, Sakovich said he is happy with how far the event has gone, stressing that the link with XTERRA has been nothing but positive.

“I think the best thing that could’ve happened was tying along with XTERRA,” he said. “I think that really helped us out. It’s given us the international cloud…we’re getting a lot international people and it’s a higher level. I think it’s a great event and there’s a lot of people talking about it.”

He, however, cited that the lack of flights serve as a problem for several who travel to the island for the events.

“The biggest problem I find is the flight problem and the cost. It’s just getting too high unless someone has a sponsor. I’ve talked to several people in Hawaii, but because the airline was not finalized this time and its kind a late now to say ‘okay its Northwest go ahead an book’ it was too late to do anything so I’m hoping in the future we do get a few more people. I had three or four personal friends that I’ve met and were interested in coming down.”