Kwon: We really do miss the fans

The most difficult part of staging the recently concluded Rollers Basketball Association 2021 Spring Madness League was the absence of fans in the stands, according to league coordinator Ethan Kwon.

“Running a tournament during a pandemic is definitely a lot more work in terms of preparation, having to ensure that we keep following COVID-19 protocols, from temperature checks to maintaining one-way flow of traffic, there was a lot more things we had to do in comparison to hosting tournaments pre-pandemic. Thankfully we learned from our mistakes and made improvements from the last tournament we had back in December and things ran smoothly,” he told Saipan Tribune.

Kwon, however, admitted that a tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic is just not the same, especially because of the lack of a crowd to cheer on and encourage players.

“We really do miss the fans. It really hurts us—coaches and tournament staff—to deny the entry of fans into the gym, especially the parents of the kids who want to watch their kids compete. Thankfully our treasurer, Sia Dela Cruz, was able to be there and livestream the games on Facebook so the fans had some way to watch the games while we follow COVID-19 protocols,” he said.

As for RBA’s plans in the future, Kwon said they are still in the conceptualization stage but promised that basketball is definitely back in the sports calendar as far as RBA is concerned for 2021.

“There are still more tournaments to come. A men’s division? Maybe… a league in the north? Stay tuned…” he said.

Kwon said a lot of people contributed to make the RBA 2021 Spring Madness League a success. “I’m extremely proud of our team it wouldn’t have possible without everyone’s help. Everyone did their part and everything came together nicely. Outside of our team I really want to thank all of the sponsors: Pacific Amusement Inc. for providing jerseys to our club and members of the CNMI Legislature. Also a huge thank you to the Saipan Southern Hight School Manta Ray Battalion for volunteering.”

He said House Speaker Edmund Villagomez (Ind-Saipan), vice speaker Rep. Blas Jonathan Attao (R-Saipan), floor leader Rep. Ralph Yumul (R-Saipan), and Reps. Ivan Blanco (R-Saipan), Vicente Camacho (D-Saipan), Denita Yangetemai (D-Saipan), John Paul Sablan (R-Saipan), and Joseph Flores (Ind-Saipan) were responsible for purchasing the trophies and medals for the champion teams in the U11, U14, U17, and U19, which were all won by Rollers Black.