{"id":182024,"date":"2014-10-15T04:00:59","date_gmt":"2014-10-14T18:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=182024"},"modified":"2014-10-15T04:00:59","modified_gmt":"2014-10-14T18:00:59","slug":"govt-help-sought-track-can-boost-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/govt-help-sought-track-can-boost-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Govt help sought; track can boost tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Harsh<\/a>
Harsh weather conditions contributed on the wear and tear of the decades-old Oleai track facility. Bubbles have already formed, while patches on the rubberized track are everywhere. (Jon Perez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nNorthern Marianas Athletics president Ray Tebuteb is hoping the government and private sector would once again come to their aid to raise funds for the repairs of Oleai Sports Complex\u2019s track facility.<\/p>\n

Tebuteb said that although he could not speak on behalf of the CNMI government now, he remains optimistic that the administration will again extend its help.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [Saipan and Northern Islands] Delegation has done this before. We contributed and appropriated some funds previously and even then Gov. Benigno Fitial helped us a lot,\u201d said Tebuteb.<\/p>\n

The NMA head joined OAA president Geoff Gardner, vice president Trevor Spittle, treasurer Titana Juventin, executive director Yvonne Mullins, NMA secretary general Robin Sapong, and NMSA executive director Tony Rogolifoi and vice president Kurt Barnes in the ocular inspection of the facility last Monday.<\/p>\n

After inspecting the track, OAA officials said they will send another OAA representative to assess the cost of repairs. Patches can be seen and bubbles had already formed around the track due to extreme weather conditions and years of use.<\/p>\n

Gardner said it would cost an estimate of $1.25M to build a new track and field stadium, while around $100,000 is needed to replace the rubber surface and do other repairs.<\/p>\n

Tebuteb said back in 2008, the delegation appropriated $30,000 to renovate the once OAA-certified track and field oval before Saipan\u2019s hosting of the 2008 Oceania Regional Championships.<\/p>\n

He said bringing back the track to OAA\u2019s standards track could mean that Saipan can host athletics events again in the future. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt can help the local economy and the CNMI\u2019s tourism industry,\u201d the NMA head said.<\/p>\n

Tebuteb added hosting a regional or OAA event could bring in a minimum of 200 athletes, while officials, coaches and some members of their families can be added to the list.<\/p>\n

Tebuteb also said that if the Oleai track facility is certified internationally and passed OAA\u2019s standards, athletes who are training for various competitions that will be held in other Asian countries can go to Saipan to acclimatize.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe opportunity for other countries to use this facility is big since the next Olympics after [2016] Rio is in Tokyo (2020). Athletes who want to acclimatize can use the track since it is certified. They can come and train here,\u201d Tebuteb said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am confident that the government will help in the funding. The private sector is always there since they\u2019ve supported all NMA activities in the past. The private sector is the backbone of the NMA and most of them support our annual programs. I\u2019m confident they will also help us,\u201d ended Tebuteb.(Jon Perez)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Northern Marianas Athletics president Ray Tebuteb is hoping the government and private sector would once…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":182038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[26,1162,545,1258],"class_list":["post-182024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-cnmi","tag-nmsa","tag-tokyo","tag-tony-rogolifoi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}