{"id":412598,"date":"2024-08-14T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=412598"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"U15-team-off-to-China-for-EAFF-champs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/U15-team-off-to-China-for-EAFF-champs\/","title":{"rendered":"U15 team off to China for EAFF champs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Mariana Islands Football Federation held a sendoff ceremony for its young NMI Women\u2019s U15 National Soccer Team last Monday night at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.<\/p>\n

The youngsters are competing in the EAFF Fifa Forward Programme EAFF U15 Women\u2019s Championship 2024 in Dalian, China from Aug. 14 to 24.<\/p>\n

The NMI team is in Group B with Hong Kong, Guam, Mongolia, and Macau.<\/p>\n

Their first match is against Macau on Friday, Aug. 16, with the second game on Sunday, Aug. 18, vs. Mongolia. Their third matchup is against Hong Kong on Tuesday, Aug. 20, with their last round against rival Guam on Friday, Aug. 23.<\/p>\n

The team is made up of Hailey Benavente, Alyssa Borlongan, Mataina Reyes, Elyza Brillo, Jade Pascual, Orica George, Aira Daca, Cassidee Flores, Beatrice Gross, Angel Calayag, Alyssa Brasuell, Stacy Arriola, Miley Mafnas, Iris Rasa, Talina Aguon-McClure, Aubrey White, Va\u2019aina Reyes, Rhodalyn Palumar, Maya Jung, and Kaye Anne Costales.<\/p>\n

The team officials include head of delegation Luam Khen Koo, head coach Chi Ming Tang, assistant coaches Mae Ito and Ronnel Ocanada, team manager Bernadette Horey, assistant team manager Yu Hung Lee, and physiotherapist Hazel Mabasa.<\/p>\n

Borlongan, one of the team\u2019s captains, said during the ceremony, \u201cWe want to give a heartfelt thanks to our coaches, Mr. Jerry Tan, NMIFA, and the community for the dedication you\u2019ve shown our team throughout this journey. To our parents: we would not be able to stand here today representing the NMI without your encouragement and unwavering support. We are extremely grateful for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gross, co-team captain of the team, for her part, said, \u201cThe team is committed to doing their best in the competition. We have been working hard since January, and we can\u2019t wait to compete in the international tournament. We are eager to represent NMI and demonstrate our dedication to soccer. Your encouragement truly means a lot to us!\u201d<\/p>\n

Costales, another co-captain is based in Portland, Oregon, and will join the team later.<\/p>\n

During the sendoff, the NMI Women\u2019s National Team and the NMI Men\u2019s U20 National Team were also recognized for their stellar performances during the NMIFA Women\u2019s U21 Three Nations Cup and the Marianas Football Cup 2024 last July and earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Players received $200 and a gift certificate for one night\u2019s stay at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The NMI Women\u2019s U15 National Soccer Team poses for a group photo with the NMI flag during the sendoff ceremony held by the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association last Monday night at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.<\/p>\n

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

The Northern Mariana Islands Football Federation held a sendoff ceremony for its young NMI Women\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-412598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412598","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\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412598\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}