Incentives for CNMI medalists in Mini Games 2022

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres addresses the crowd during the launching of the one-year countdown to the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 at the Oleai Sports Complex last year. Torres will provide incentives to CNMI medalists in the Mini Games that will run from June 17 to 25. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Cash incentives await CNMI athletes who will win medals in the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022.

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres will give $5,000 to gold medalists, $2,500 to silver medalists, and $1,000 to bronze medalists in team and individual sports. On top of the incentive package, Torres will award $1,000 to each member of a squad that will win gold medals in their respective team events. Individual event gold medalists will also get an additional $1,000.

“Our athletes are indeed ‘Rising Up to the Challenge’ as they’ve been working hard since last year to get ready for the 2022 Northern Mariana Pacific Mini Games. We acknowledge their efforts and commitment to their sports and to Team NMI and wish them good luck in next month’s competition,” Torres said.

“More than the monetary incentive, our Team NMI will be inspired to give their best in the competition as they see our community watching the Games and cheering for them, so let’s rally behind our athletes and support them in their bid to bring honor to our islands,” Torres added.

The Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 will run from June 17 to 25 and will feature nine sports. Athletics will have its competition at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field facility from June 21 to 25, while badminton games will take place at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium from June 20 to 25. Baseball and tennis will have an early start with games set to begin on June 16 and last until June 25, and matches will be held at the Francisco “Tan Ko” M. Palacios for the former and the Pacific Islands Club Saipan and American Memorial Park tennis courts for the latter. Beach volleyball (Crowne Plaza on Saipan and some games on Tinian), triathlon (Rota), va’a (13 Fishermen Monument) and weightlifting (Marianas High School) are all set from June 20 to 24, while golf will hit the greens of Coral Ocean Resort from June 21 to 24.

More than 1,000 athletes, officials, and guests from 20 countries will gather on Saipan for the opening ceremonies set for June 17. Joining host the CNMI in this year’s Pacific Mini Games are American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis &
Futuna.

Meanwhile, the Northern Marianas Sports Association thanked Torres for providing incentives to NMI athletes and for his continued support in ensuring the successful delivery of the Mini Games.

Incentive programs for medalists are standard practice across the globe, especially for host countries. In the Pacific, when Papua New Guinea hosted the 2015 Pacific Games, PNG awarded K20,000 (Kina), which is equivalent to nearly $6,000 to team and individual gold medalists. In the 2017 Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu, the host country gave Vt250,000 (over $2,000) to team and individual gold medalists. (PR)