{"id":407594,"date":"2024-04-02T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=407594"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"29-join-JNA-Training-Camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/29-join-JNA-Training-Camp\/","title":{"rendered":"29 join JNA Training Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association\u2019s Junior National Academy concluded its 2023-2024 program with a four-day training camp that was participated in by 29 players and featured training matches and important off-the-pitch activities.<\/p>\n

The 29 players (girls and boys) challenged the NMI U16 National Team pool in training matches at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville last Wednesday and Sunday and also played against MP United Football Club U14 and Paire Football Club U14 teams. These games were on top of the training sessions conducted at the NMISTC from Tuesday to Thursday. The JNA players, along with coaches Jersh Angeles, Jireh Yobech and Irish Pagarao, also had an educational tour at the Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research, Extension, & Education Service’s Aquaculture & Natural Resources at the Center for Aquaculture Development in as Terlaje Hill, and the Center for Agriculture Development Agroforestry Demonstration plot in As Perdido last Wednesday. Yesterday, the group went to Marpi for a tree planting activity in partnership with the Marianas Visitors Authority and CNMI Forestry under the Department of Public Lands and Natural Resourse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe enjoyed the visit at NMC-CREES and also the tree planting. These visits helped us know that besides playing soccer, we can do other things to benefit our community,\u201d said Elyza Brillo, who co-captains the girls team with Betrice Gross.<\/p>\n

As for being part of the program, Gross is grateful for the opportunity, and she is determined to make it to the next level\u2014play for the national team in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been playing soccer since I was in pre-school and I keep playing because I want to improve. This program is a great opportunity to get better and I will continue to improve my skills, as I look forward to earning the honor to someday represent the NMI in international competitions,\u201d<\/p>\n

The NMIFA offers the JNA program in partnership with the Japan Football Association. It is open to players in the 9 to 12 age group and is conducted by licensed coaches. Players under the JNA participate in training sessions for seven months, equipping them with strong fundamentals that will help them prepare to move up into the national team training program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been part of this program for three years and I could say that it really helped me become a better player. All the hard work at the training sessions were worth it,\u201d said JNA boys team captain TJ Hix said.<\/p>\n

Hix\u2019s co-captain Damien Concepcion said they had fun touring the aquaculture and agriculture farms as they got more knowledge about the variety of food available on island and how they can be cultivated.<\/p>\n

Joining Concepcion, Hix, Gross, and Brillo in the program were Melisa Scoggins, Windsor Gross, Mataina Reyes, Scarlett Loken, Leilani Ruszala, Anica Aquino, Princess Gariguez, Angel Calayag, Aira Daca, Emmjie Escano, Jade Pascual, Aldric Antonio, Logan Propst, Izaiah Tenorio, Zion Ullo, Lashawn Ada, Dominic Chhetri, Zhi Jin, Rhyane Umali, Brandon Teigita, Mateo Angeles, Quido Jambpr, John Ray Daca, Benjie Escano, and Clyde Manangan.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, NMIFA acting technical director Konomo Suzuki sees the training camp and off-the-pitch activities as a great experience for the young players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a great opportunity for them to become more independent players and to learn how to contribute to our community through a lot of experiences and activities. The players are thankful to the NMIFA for this opportunity,\u201d Konomi said. (PR)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Top, players under the NMIFA Junior National Academy program pose for a group photo at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan before heading to their training matches last Wednesday. Bottom right photo, players participate in three planting activity in Marpi, while bottom left, a Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research Extension and Education Services staff talks to players during a visit in the As Perdido farm.<\/p>\n

-NMIFA
\n
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association\u2019s Junior National Academy concluded its 2023-2024 program with a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-407594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407594","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}