Previous Story
Men’s and women’s team preparing for MBT
|
Posted on Jun 30 2004
In just a couple of days, the members of the CNMI men’s and women’s basketball teams will be leaving, on a jet plane, to compete against cagers from seven other islands in the third Micronesian Basketball Tournament in Guam.
The MBT is held every four years, falling two years after the Micronesian Games. The 12 members of this year’s men’s contingent have been practicing five days a week at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium under the watchful eye of Elias Rangamar, while the women have been working just as hard at Marians High School with coach Don Blundin.
The ages for the tournament are not an issue as each team is made up of the best that the area can offer. In the CNMI, most of the players are from Saipan and just one is from Tinian. With Rota being so far away from the two neighbors, it becomes very difficult to have its’ players practice with the national team provided the player even makes the squad.
“We have an idea of having an apprentice coach in Rota so they can run the same drills and so the kids don’t miss out,” said Rangamar.
Though that issue will not be resolved in time for this year’s games, tonight the men’s team will continue preparing for the tournament by playing against some of the best Filipino ballers living in Saipan. At 7:30pm, the defending champions of the United Filipino Organization Basketball League (Visminda-Country House) will match up with the CNMI at the MHS gym for some last minute fine-tuning.
Last time out, the women’s team earned a bronze medal, but this year it is certain that they will be shooting for more. They are also scheduled for a scrimmage game, although it is not until the morning of Saturday, July 3.
It may be last minute, but the team is determined to get in any chance to improve. The CNMI representatives will begin their journey on Saturday, (men) and Sunday (women) when they fly south to Guam to compete for gold.
