{"id":271586,"date":"2018-03-09T06:00:14","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T20:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=271586"},"modified":"2018-03-09T06:00:14","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T20:00:14","slug":"shirleys-fc-tinian-premier-hold-friendly-tourney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/shirleys-fc-tinian-premier-hold-friendly-tourney\/","title":{"rendered":"Shirley\u2019s FC, Tinian Premier hold friendly tourney"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-271586 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/shirleys-fc-tinian-premier-hold-friendly-tourney\/shirleys1\/'>shirleys1<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-271621'>\n\t\t\t\tTinian Premier Football Club\u2019s Phillip and Arley Long exchange club souvenirs with Shirley\u2019s Football Club\u2019s Noelle Macario before their friendly game on Tinian last month.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/shirleys-fc-tinian-premier-hold-friendly-tourney\/shirleys2\/'>shirleys2<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-271622'>\n\t\t\t\tTinian Premier Football Club players and officials listen to a brief message from Shirley\u2019s Football Club\u2019s women\u2019s team.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/shirleys-fc-tinian-premier-hold-friendly-tourney\/shirleys3\/'>shirleys3<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-271623'>\n\t\t\t\tA Tinian Premier Football Club boys U15 player, right, plays defense against a Shirley\u2019 FC women\u2019s team member.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/shirleys-fc-tinian-premier-hold-friendly-tourney\/shirleys4\/'>shirleys4<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-271624'>\n\t\t\t\tThe two clubs officials and  players pose for a photo during a BBQ party.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/shirleys-fc-tinian-premier-hold-friendly-tourney\/shirleys5\/'>shirleys5<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-271625'>\n\t\t\t\tTinian Premier Football Club and Shirley\u2019s FC players strike a pose for the camera before their friendly match.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/shirleys-fc-tinian-premier-hold-friendly-tourney\/shirleys6\/'>shirleys6<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-271626'>\n\t\t\t\tTinian Premier Football Club and Shirley\u2019s FC players thank their officials for making the friendly tournament possible.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><strong>TINIAN<\/strong>\u2014The Shirley\u2019s Football Club U16 Girls and Women\u2019s teams visited Tinian on President\u2019s Day weekend for a friendly tournament against Tinian Premier Football Club. The visiting club was made up of 27 players, two officials, and a few parent supporters. <\/p>\n<p>The tournament was organized as a reward for the hard-work Shirley\u2019s players showed for the past year. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth our U15 girls and women\u2019s teams worked really hard in 2017. We bagged a few championships and also lost some, but it was really the sportsmanship displayed throughout the year that convinced us the players deserved something special,\u201d Shirley\u2019s FC girls U15 coach Marrielle Gariguez, who also suited up for the club\u2019s women\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe thought about ways to make the players feel proud about their performance for the past two seasons and at the same time, we also wanted them to have a good team bonding trip,\u201d said Angie Ito, who was one of the organizers of the event and also played for the visiting team.<\/p>\n<p>The team decided that Tinian was a better option as it served a dual purpose. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost players always look forward to traveling to Guam because of the many exciting things the island has to offer. However, we firmly decided to go to Tinian because we felt that the players would be able to truly bond better there with less distractions; and at the same time, we could help Tinian with their soccer program,\u201d said organizer Marilou Arriola.<\/p>\n<p>The host club welcomed Shirley\u2019s FC players and officials and Tinian Premier hopes more teams will visit the island so they can enjoy playing the sport together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur youth continues to benefit from the opportunities to play on Saipan and against Saipan teams. They  take pride in representing their island and showcasing their skills. They build self esteem, important character traits, but most importantly it motivates them to keep physically active and build lasting memories,\u201d Tinian Premier FC\u2019s Arley Long said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday the importance of physical activity is stronger than ever, as it improves health and we have enough validation that a fit child or adult is more likely to be well rested, prevent chronic diseases and stay mentally sharp. We would like to extend a big thank you to our coach and councilman Phillip Long, junior coaches Jared King, J.C. Guintu, Chit Acollador, Chad Acollador,Edgard AcolladorJr, Tasi Long, Cielo Long, and Isa Long, TPFC coordinator Rosalyn Acollador.  Thank you, too to Tinian Mayor\u2019s Office for continuing to support TPFC, Jerry Tan, Bridge Investment Group, and the rest of our island communities,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>The tournament between Shirley\u2019s FC and Tinian Premier featured mini games which resulted in three wins for the host and two for the visiting club. The first game was for girls U16 players and Shirley\u2019s prevailed, 6-0. For the second match, it was the women\u2019s team\u2019s turn to play and this time Tinian won, 1-0. Shirley\u2019s women\u2019s squad also challenged the host\u2019s boys U15 crew and the latter came out victorious in the third match of the day, 5-1. Tinian\u2019s third victory came from its co-ed U15 team, which shut down the Shirley\u2019s women\u2019s crew, 2-0. For the final game of the day, Shirley\u2019s girls U16 players avenged their earlier lost to Tinian with a 1-0 victory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth clubs were very happy to have a friendly tournament, stressing how very important it is for the development of NMI soccer. Tinian needs help. The island has great, strong players that can play at the national team level. Unfortunately, because of the distance, it is difficult for them to train with the rest of the players on Saipan,\u201d Ito said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to keep encouraging other teams and clubs to come to Tinian to help them with their soccer program and have our kids enjoy the island\u2019s beauty at the same time,\u201d added Arriola.<\/p>\n<p>Besides the mini matches, Tinian Premier and Shirley\u2019s FC also had a beachside barbeque. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was really nice seeing all the players relaxed, enjoying the food and each other\u2019s company. TPFC were great hosts,\u201d said Arriola.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Shirley\u2019s FC would like to thank the following for helping make this tournament possible: Arley and Phillip Long and the rest of the Tinian Premier FC, Mayor Joey P. San Nicolas, Senator Jude Hofschneider, The Super Emerald, Norman Tenorio, Shirley\u2019s Coffee Shop, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, and the parents of the players.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TINIAN\u2014The Shirley\u2019s Football Club U16 Girls and Women\u2019s teams visited Tinian on President\u2019s Day weekend&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":271621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[55,2202,232,20380],"class_list":["post-271586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-health-2","tag-phillip-long","tag-soccer","tag-tpfc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271586","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}