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U15 Junior National Program tryouts for basketball set
In this file photo, youth players compete in the Northern Mariana Islands Basketball Federation’s 3×3 event at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium late last year. This 2022, the NMIBF will hold tryouts for its U15 Junior National Program. (Contributed Photo)
The Northern Mariana Islands Basketball Association is launching its U15 Junior National Program by conducting a series of tryouts, starting this Saturday.
NMIBF president James Lee said players that will be selected for the U15 Junior National Program will have a chance to represent the CNMI in the FIBA Oceania U15 Championships, which Guam will be hosting sometime in November this year.
“We’ re excited to start our junior program and look forward to developing the skills and building the character of our young ang promising players,” Lee said.
NMIBF vice president David Apatang will oversee the program and is inviting players (boys and girls) in the U15 age group and their parents/guardians/coaches to attend a briefing and meet-and-greet this Saturday at 4pm at the Oleai Sports Complex grandstand. Players must be born in the CNMI or a U.S. citizen that have resided on the islands for at least four years (cumulative or consecutive).
After the meet-and-greet, the NMIBF will conduct tryouts from Jan. 18 to February 24. The boys training/tryout sessions will run every Tuesday, from 430pm to 6pm, and Friday, from 5pm to 7pm at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. For the girls, the Thursday tryout/training sessions will take place from 4:30pm to 6pm at the Ada Gym, while Saturday’s schedule is from 9am to 10am at the TSL Sports Complex.
Apatang said the NMIBF will follow the same selection process implemented in the adults National Team Program. The Top 20 players will be selected after the first stage of the tryouts and they will have offseason training for three months and another three for the next stage of preparation before the final roster is completed before the December competition.
Meanwhile, the NMIBF is also looking for coaches for the two youth teams. The federation will select one coach and an assistant each for the boys U15 and girls U15 national squads.
For more information about the U15 Junior National Program, send inquiries to nmibasketballfederation@gmail.com. (PR)
