NMIFA U12 football league draws 17 teams

Seventeen teams will be competing in the Inaugural 2008 NMIFA U12 Interscholastic Football League which is expected to kick off tomorrow after last week’s opening games were cancelled due to rain.

The first-ever U12 league is divided into two divisions, namely the Southern and Northern groups.

Each group will play a single-round robin regular season with the top two teams in each division advancing to the playoffs. Games will be played every Wednesday, but schedules are subject to change depending on the availability of the schools. Matches will be played in fields of various schools.

The Northern Group is composed of Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, Garapan Elementary School, Kagman Elementary School, Whispering Palms School, Eucon International School, Saipan International School, and Tanapag Elementary School.

The Southern Group will have Dandan Elementary School A and B, Saipan Community School, William S. Reyes School, Koblerville Elementary School, San Vicente Elementary School, San Antonio Elementary School, and Oleai Elementary School.

Last week, the U12 league was supposed to open with two games.

The Garapan Mallards were scheduled to duel the Whispering Palms Terns with the former hosting the game on their field. The Kagman Marlins were also set to play last week against Eucon at GTC field.

Tomorrow, four games are scheduled in various fields.

In the Northern Group, Tanapag will host SIS, while GTC will be playing in its home turf against Whispering Palms.

In the Southern Group, the Oleai Turtles will challenge the San Antonio Octopus in the latter’s home field. In the other game over at the San Vicente field, the WSR Kingfisher will collide with Dandan A Tottots.

Regular season games in the Northern Group will conclude in the last week of November, while the Southern Group’s will end in the first week of December, as they have more teams than the Northern Group.

The U12 league was created through the efforts of the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, the Public Schools System, and several private schools on Saipan.

On and off-island companies, and individuals donated equipment package last month to allow schools to get ready for the league.

Several coaching clinics were also held to prepare teachers/coaches for the inaugural interscholastic league, which is replacing the one weekend only football tournament held in the past several leagues.

NMIFA through the help of school officials and coaches wanted to have an organized interscholastic league to see continuity in the youth football program.