‘My Pal’ sports fest kicks off next week

Children race in the 100m run, while others wait for their turn at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field facility, which will be one of the venues of the “My Pal” Special Sports Fest next week. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The inaugural CNMI “My Pal” Special Sports Fest will be held next week at the various sports facilities on Saipan.

The event, which will run from Aug. 18 to 22 is for children with disabilities and are in the 6 to 12 and 13 to 14 age groups. The Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, DCCA’s Child Care Development Fund, and Saipan Soccer School are teaming up in bringing this first-ever sports fest for children with disabilities. Participants will compete in basketball, badminton, bowling, table tennis, soccer, futsal, track and field, softball, and kayak racing.

The sports fest will kick off with the torch lighting ceremony at the Kanoa Resort all the way to the track oval of the Oleai Sports Complex on Aug. 18. Also at the opening day, the competition will begin at the TSL Sports Complex (from 1pm to 3pm) with participants joining the badminton event. The badminton tournament will feature doubles and mixed doubles events and balloon and shuttlecock toss.

For Day 2, the competition will start at 9am in the waters at Hyatt Regency Saipan for the kayak race. In the afternoon, participants will head to the Saipan Bowling Center to compete in a team event.

In Day 3, it will be the turn of baseball/softball with participants joining the base race, hitting contest, and throwing/catching drills. Also set in Day 3 is the track and field events with participants joining the 50m and 100m individual runs and the 200m, 300m, and 400m relay races. The last two events in Day 3 will be soccer and futsal. For soccer, each team will be allowed to get 10 players and they will play in two 10-minute halves. For futsal, participants will join dribbling, passing, kicking, and shooting drills.

In Day 4, participants will test their putting skills at Kanoa Resort, while over at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium basketball games will be played with each team allowed to have 10 players on their roster. Each match will be played in four-minute halves.

For the final day, participants will head back to the TSL Sports Complex for the table tennis competition, which will have single, doubles, and mixed doubles event. A banquet will also take place at the conclusion of the competitions on Aug. 22 with the venue to be announced later.

Registration for the sports fest is ongoing. Clinics and training drills have also started and will continue until Friday to prepare participants. For more information, call the SSS office at 235-0560, extension 148.

The sports fest is supported by Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan, Hyatt Regency Saipan, IT&E, Kanoa Resort, Northern Marianas Sports Association, Northern Marianas Badminton Association, Gatorade, and the Tan Siu Lin Foundation (Saipan Tribune).