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NMASA plans to give team award
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Posted on Aug 07 2011
Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association is considering giving awards to teams during its selection of top performers of the month.
NMASA president Michael White said during the association’s meeting last week that he will meet with the NMASA board and ask the members’ opinion on the inclusion of teams to the athletes they recognized every month. NMASA honors only students (male and female) and adults (male and female) athletes.
The idea of adding a team category was brought up after Northern Mariana Islands Football Association general secretary Ed Salas detailed how the CNMI U15 National Team showed a much improved performance in last month’s 2011 East Asian Football Federation U15 Youth Tournament in Taipei, Taiwan.
The CNMI strikers played strong in the last two days of the competition, losing to Guam by only three and then pulling off a historic 2-1 win over Macau. Before its 0-3 loss to Guam in Taipei, the CNMI suffered a 0-22 beating at the hands of its neighbor last year.
Salas said if given a choice, NMIFA intended to nominate the entire team for the Tan Siu Lin Foundation/NMASA Male Student of the Month award, but since there is no team category for the citation, Jehn Joyner was nominated for the plum. Joyner scored the two goals for the CNMI.
NMASA members present at the meeting recognized the efforts of the CNMI U15 strikers and then White said it is time to consider adding the team category in the monthly awards selection.
Last week’s meeting was not the first time a team was honored for its good showing in a tournament. In March this year during the Saipan-Settsu caging, Basketball Association of Northern Mariana Islands nominated the MHS Lady Dolphins for the female student awards. However, the nomination was not accepted and instead the Lady Dolphins were given a special citation.
Meanwhile, NMASA will not be having a meeting next month, as White and other CNMI athletes will be in New Caledonia for the 2011 Pacific Games. The next meeting is set for Oct. 6 and NMASA will select the top athletes for August and September.
