Thea makes jump to NCAA official

The CNMI’s Thea Minor, seated left, poses for a photo with New Mexico Military Institute women’s tennis team coach Dan O’Connell, standing left, athletic director Jose Barron, and teammate Lorraine Banimataku before signing a letter of intent to play for NCAA Division II’s Henderson State University last week. (NMMI Photo)

Former CNMI junior player Thea Minor has signed a letter of intent to play for Henderson State University in Division II of the National Collegiate Athletics Association.

Minor along with Vanuatu’s Lorraine Banimataku, made their commitment to Henderson official last Tuesday (Wednesday on Saipan) in front of Dan O’Connell, head coach of New Mexico Military Institute’s women’s tennis team, which has been working with the Division II school in discovering players and training them for higher-level competition. NMMI athletic director Jose Barron was also present at the signing ceremony.

“We are excited. Lorraine and I signed up our next two years with Henderson State University with a full scholarship. Thank you to our friends and family who have given us so much support since the start,” said Minor, who is now playing in the NJCCA Nationals in Texas for her farewell season with NMMI as she will be graduating in less than two weeks.

Minor also thanked NMMI and O’Connell for helping them become better players and individuals on and off the court. The CNMI and Vanuatu players are the fourth and fifth netters from the Pacific to receive athletic scholarships from Henderson. Fiji’s Daneric Hazelman and Annie Shannon and the Solomon Island’s Amanda Korinihona were the first three.

“This program is developed from the Pacific to NMMI and to Henderson,” O’Connell was quoted as saying in a story about his wards move to Henderson.

At Henderson, which competes in the tough Great American Conference, Minor will be taking up nursing and she and Banimataku will also join the Reddies’ cross country team.

“I am thrilled to have these two players join our program next season,” Henderson women’s tennis coach Brenda Joiner was quoted as saying in a separate story posted at Henderson’s official athletics website. They will fit right into what we are trying to accomplish here at HSU and I can’t wait to get them in a Reddie uniform.”

Meanwhile, Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association official Jeff Race, who coached Minor in regional tournaments, said the latest development on Minor’s collegiate career will inspire the young players on island.

“It (playing in college and getting a scholarship) is a realistic goal that our players here should aspire for. Every day when I train our players, I talk to them about this opportunity, so every time this good news comes, this inspire them to work harder on their game, knowing that one day, they could follow the footsteps of Thea and others, too,” Race said.

“Being able to play in college is such a great accomplishment, especially if you come from a small island like ours. Congratulations to Thea,” added Race, who himself played in NCAA for Chapman University.