{"id":361874,"date":"2022-02-11T06:02:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T20:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=361874"},"modified":"2022-02-11T06:02:53","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T20:02:53","slug":"nmibf-brings-bola-to-kagman-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/nmibf-brings-bola-to-kagman-saturday\/","title":{"rendered":"NMIBF brings \u2018Bola\u2019 to Kagman Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"
Participants in the second \u201cBola\u201d session watch NMI National Team Program player Khristian Itaas demonstrates a dribbling drill at the Garapan Basketball Court last Jan. 29.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three down, four to go.<\/p>\n

The Northern Mariana Islands Basketball Federation has so far completed three sessions of \u201cBola,\u201d a Mini Basketball Village Outreach Program, and will have its fourth one this Saturday at Kagman Community Center basketball court in Kagman 3.<\/p>\n

The NMIBF kicked off \u201cBola,\u201d which is supported by FIBA Oceania and FIBA Foundation, at the Koblerville Basketball Court last Jan. 22 and then moved to Garapan Basketball Court last Jan. 29 and at the Civic Center Court last Saturday, offering the federation\u2019s version of FIBA\u2019s Basketball For Good program to more than 30 participants. After the KCC session, \u2018Bola\u201d will be at the Chinatown Basketball Court on Feb. 19, San Vicente Basketball Court on Feb. 26, and at the As Matuis Basketball Court on March 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been receiving a good response for \u201cBola\u201d despite the current COVID-19 situations we\u2019re in. Thanks to the parents, who entrusted their children to us, our volunteers, and our sponsors from both the private and public sectors. Of course, thank you to these young and enthusiastic kids\u2014some of them have attended the first three sessions\u2014for their diligence and interest in the program. This is truly a team effort, as everyone is working hard to help provide a good program for each village and its residents,\u201d NMIBF president James Lee.<\/p>\n

Welcome program<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ana Liza Viola, who registered his sons Charles, Carl, Clyde, and Christian to the program, welcomed \u201cBola,\u201d saying it\u2019s great to see her children play ball together, share the same passion with the sport, and strengthen their bond as siblings. She also wants her children to meet other people and learn from them and the activities they do together, instead of spending a lot of time in gadgets.<\/p>\n

\u201cNowadays and with the COVID-19 cases in the community, one of our concerns, as parents, is how to keep our children busy because they can\u2019t just sit on the couch and play videogames. Whether they are at home or outside, they have to do something that can help them build their immune system, stay active. So, when I heard of this program, I knew I have to bring them here and I am happy that they are enjoying the drills,\u201d Ana Liza said.<\/p>\n

Christian, the youngest among the four siblings at 6 years old, said he loves being able to shoot the ball and doing dribbling drills with his brothers. Besides the actual rims at the village courts, the NMIBA provides portable ones that are suitable for young children.<\/p>\n

Seven-year-old Rayden Cruz said he likes doing stretches because they are easier and fun to do, while Dreanalyn Yamada found the obstacle course drills enjoyable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to hear that the kids are loving the drills. We want them to learn the basic skills in basketball and at the same time have fun. Our drills also help improve their agility and coordination and we do these drills in a safe manner through the fun obstacle courses,\u201d lead program coordinator Irish Pagarao said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBola\u201d is held in partnership with the Office of the Governor, the Saipan Mayor\u2019s Office, the Office of Youth Affairs, the Division of Youth Services, the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, and DCCA\u2019s Sports and Recreation. (PR)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three down, four to go. The Northern Mariana Islands Basketball Federation has so far completed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":361875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-361874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361874","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\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}