{"id":368990,"date":"2022-05-23T06:04:18","date_gmt":"2022-05-22T20:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=368990"},"modified":"2022-05-23T06:04:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-22T20:04:18","slug":"pacific-mini-games-preparations-going-down-the-wire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/pacific-mini-games-preparations-going-down-the-wire\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific Mini Games preparations \u2018going down the wire\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mini Games Organizing Committee CEO Vicente \u201cBen\u201d Babauta said except for the hammer cage, the Oleai track and field is essentially done and ready to host the athletics event of the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022. ( MARK RABAGO )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With exactly 24 days to go before the opening of the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022, the CNMI is rushing to complete the competition sites for all nine sports that will be held for the quadrennial event.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite exciting as according to our Pacific Games Council CEO Andrew Minogue \u2018we\u2019re pretty much ahead compared to other Games deliveries [in the past]. With 27 days away it looks like it\u2019s going to be down to the wire. We will deliver by June 1st everything will be set and done and will start installing our logistics\u2014our container offices, our huge tent for the medic, and also our broadcasting,\u201d said Mini Games Organizing Committee CEO Vicente \u201cBen\u201d Babauta.<\/p>\n

Babauta then proceeded to do a rundown of what level of readiness the sports venues are currently in, starting with athletics. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe track itself is completed. The hammer cage foundation is done and we\u2019re just waiting for the curing and then erect the cage. That should be done in the next couple of days and that completes the track and field.\u201d<\/p>\n

He admitted that the MGOC is still chasing some general repairs on the badminton venue at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
\n

Mini Games Organizing Committee CEO Vicente \u201cBen\u201d Babauta said the Francisco \u201cTan\u2019ko\u201d M. Palacios Baseball Field is 95% finished. Photo shows construction workers working on the venue\u2019s press box. (MARK RABAGO)
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

\u201cNevertheless we\u2019re doing everything in our power to make sure that we deliver at least the minimum [requirements for badminton]. The air-conditioning is installed and ready to be energized. We just need to get the right voltage and transformers there and the general repair within the gym. We need to remove all the basketball gyms and the posts as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

For baseball, Babauta said they\u2019re on target as the Francisco \u201cTan\u2019Ko\u201d M. Palacios Baseball Field is 95% done. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s being manicured as you can see yourself. The perimeter fence is also completed. The press box is finishing as they\u2019ve start running the fiber optic cable thanks to IT&E. The dugout is quite easy and they\u2019re erecting the poles now. The lights are 80% complete there\u2019s just 1 or 2 more poles left. The scoreboard is on the way and it\u2019s arriving on May 27 and will install it right away upon arrival.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the resurfacing of the American Memorial Park tennis courts is ongoing and is expected to be completed by May 27. For the meantime, national tennis players\u2019 training have been moved to the Pacific Islands Club tennis courts in San Antonio.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 85% of the beach volleyball venue is complete. Just a little bit of the area there that [sand] needs to be sifted and reposition the volleyball net poles based on the last dry run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Babauta added that Tinian is also excited to host the consolation games for beach volleyball and that they\u2019ve relocated the site to Tachogna Beach instead of Jones Beach because there\u2019s more space for spectators and more sand on the former.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, he said, vandals have stopped stealing the anchors needed to float the competition lanes for the Mini Games\u2019 outrigger competition. <\/p>\n

\u201cVa\u2019a is ready as we got all the main anchors in. We did a dry run last weekend and it\u2019s pretty cool. We were missing 3 or 4 anchors but we reordered and thanks to Fishguyz Scuba & Charter we\u2019ve replaced them. It\u2019s additional cost to us but it is what it is. Hopefully nobody out there tampers again with our anchors so we could complete our huge event in va\u2019a.\u201d<\/p>\n

For golf, Babauta said Coral Ocean Point has been ready obviously for months now and ready to host the region\u2019s best par-busters<\/p>\n

Like the people of Tinian, the island of Rota is also ready to welcome triathletes for the Mini Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cRota is pretty much set and they\u2019re quite excited in welcoming athletes for the triathlon event there,\u201d said Babauta.<\/p>\n

For weightlifting, the MGOC CEO said the Marianas High School Gymnasium will once again have temperature control after its air-conditioning units were knocked off by successive typhoons. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs we speak MHS is being airconditioned again. It\u2019s a temporary unit thanks to Chong\u2019s Corp. which managed to install two 30-ton refurbished units.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With exactly 24 days to go before the opening of the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":368982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2820],"class_list":["post-368990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-pacific-mini-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368990","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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}