SLLBI head Murig ready to face challenges

Newly elected Saipan Little League Board Inc. president A.J. Palacios Murig said he and the rest of the officials are ready to face the challenges as they prepare to open the 2016 season of the Commonwealth’s longest-running youth baseball program.

The Saipan Little League Board Inc. expects the opening of the 2016 season would be delayed since both the Francisco M. “Tan Ko” Palacios and Miguel “Tan Ge” Pangelinan ballfields are awaiting repairs. (Jon Perez)

Damage at the Francisco M. “Palacios” and Miguel Basa “Tan Ge” Pangelinan ballfields and depleted funds to start the season are among the challenges that the new SLLBI board is facing.

But Murig, one of the grandsons of CNMI Sports Hall of Famer Francisco M. “Tan Ko” Palacios, is optimistic that the current SLLBI board will hurdle the obstacles.

“Despite all the problems we still remain optimistic. All it takes is commitment. We know that we’re facing a lot of problems but the board thinks we can overcome everything if we all worked together,” said Murig, who was elected as the youngest SLLBI president by the seven-member board.

The “Tan Ko” baseball field and the Miguel “Tan Ge” Pangelinan softball field have suffered major damage after Typhoon Soudelor.

“We know both fields are damaged that’s why we’re going to discuss with Tony Rogolifoi how we can help since the board feels that we are obligated to assist because we are the main users of both fields and where our leagues are played for years,” said Murig.

The former Saipan Little League chief statistician added that one of their plans is to use other fields on the island like the ones in Kan Pacific in Marpi, Dandan, and Capital Hill.

“There are a lot of other fields that we could use and it was also brought up in one of our meetings. Using other venues is our back up plan. As much as possible we want to continue using both fields at the Oleai Sports Complex since it is more accessible,” said Murig.

Murig added the board is still targeting to open the season in mid or end of January next year but is not taking out the possibility of delay with the opening.

“We are already anticipating a possibility of a delay in the opening with the current condition of the field. We’re still hoping that both fields would be ready so we could open the season in mid January, we wanted to start early to give the All-Star teams more time to practice for their respective regional tournaments,” said Murig.

Funding is another problem for the current SLLBI board with Murig saying that they only have less than $100 right now.

“Our funds are depleted and we also face that problem. The Legislature gives an annual appropriation of $25,000 but we use that money to fund the travel costs for the district and regional tournaments. But right now, we’re thinking of also using some of the money for the coming season,” said Murig.

“Another possibility is to write letters to seek support from the business sector. We know the impact made by Soudelor to all of us, especially the businesses but it is not bad to try,” said Murig, who added that in 2013 Saipan World Resort was the Saipan Little League’s corporate sponsor.

Former Saipan senator Rey Yumul (vice president), Malcolm Omar (secretary), Tom Guerrero (treasurer), Ton Camacho (player agent), John Manibusan (safety officer), and Joe Lizama (chief statistician) are the other SLLBI officers.