‘Trip was a great learning experience’

NMI Rollers Basketball Association’s girls 17-and-under team poses with the University of Guam Lady Tritons after their scrimmage last Saturday. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The NMI Rollers Basketball Association’s girls 17-and-under team is back on Saipan after spending most of last week taking part in the basketball camp of B.League player Morgan Aiken.

RBA girls 17-and-under coach Marlene Lumabi said the whole trip was a great learning experience for both the coaches and players. 

“The players learned a lot from our trainer, Morgan Aiken. He went over the fundamentals and was able to answer many of our players’ questions. The whole training was meant to focus on fundamentals.”

The CNMI women’s national player said their sessions with the Yamaguchi Patriots guard in the mornings were complemented further by scrimmages against the Yellow Jacket, the U15 Guam Select, the JFK High School Basketball Team, and the University of Guam Lady Tritons in the evenings.

“As we were training, we had scheduled scrimmages at night. The scrimmages were perfect to test run the skills the girls obtained from Morgan. As a coach, I saw that each girl was using what Morgan taught them and when I was on the court with them, I felt the progress. I want to take the time to thank all the teams we scrimmaged against, our trainer, and our sponsors (IT&E and CNMI lawmakers.) This experience wouldn’t be possible without their help and support,” she said.

One of the members of the RBA girls 17-and-under, Kaitlyn Chavez, said attending a basketball camp was a welcome change.

“I was really excited about the basketball camp because it’s my first camp for basketball and it’s a different sport now so it’s a different experience with new people and perspective. We had practice with Morgan Aiken and it was really nice because it made us better. During our stay we also had scrimmages against teams from Guam and overall was a great experience,” said Chavez, who represented the CNMI in athletics and was considered for the triathlon team in the recent Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 and is also a budding soccer star.

Her teammate, Kaia Travilla, echoed Lumabi when she said that the camp was a great learning experience for the whole team.

“This is our first time playing together with a new set of players, but I think this is a great way to build chemistry and learn from each other. I’m having a great time learning from Morgan Aiken and I look forward to expanding my knowledge in basketball,” she said.

Aside from Chavez and Travilla, the other seven 17-and-under players that trained last week with Aiken at the Ballers Gymnasium in Harmon were Kyna Delos Reyes, Lency Sagarino, Tasilyn Ramon, Andera Ramos, Kaeli Pathil, Yasmeen Younis, and Mia Abuan.

RBA founder and head coach Joe Diaz, for his part, said Aiken’s camp was a great eye-opener for the girls since it gave them the perspective of a professional player. 

“It’s very basic but it’s more for game-specific situations because he’s a professional basketball player. He was very detailed as a trainer and I’d like to have him conduct a camp for our NMI Rollers Basketball Association on Saipan. Because they always hear it from a local coach, but once they hear it from a pro they’ll say ‘that’s what coach said’ but they don’t really absorb it because they see us everyday at practice in our club. But once they hear it from a pro, they get it and they become better and better,” he said.

Diaz was also proud of how the RBA girls 17-and-under team acquitted themselves well in Aiken’s basketball camp. 

“Camps like these make us understand why you play in the national team. Also they showed great work ethic. Our Rollers girls everyday woke up at 4am to run a mile for 7 minutes and then after a light breakfast went straight to camp. Being an athlete is different from being a basketball player. Being an athlete is all about grinding everyday,” he said.