Marianas to benefit from becoming Olympic training site

Investing $250,000 in marketing facilities in the Marianas as potential acclimating training sites for athletes prepping for the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be beneficial for the NMI and Guam, according to William Tucker of Tucker and Associates.

During a recent interview, Tucker indicated that not only will the islands gain much-needed exposure world-wide due to the popularity of the Olympic Games, but based on his communications with coaches within the National Governing Body of various sports within the U.S. National Olympic Committee, a brief visit would also provide local athletes and coaches with the opportunity to pick up tips from the top-of-the-line coaches.

“There’s a multitude of benefits that would flow from this,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that [NMI and Guam] would receive far in excess of $250,000. The money part is going to come back easily.”

Tucker said several coaches are willing to conduct clinics on the islands if their team chooses the destination as their training site.

“Intangible benefits that you can’t buy is these coaches, which are the elite and best coaches in the world, and you can’t buy them to come here because they’re just so busy and it would cost so much money, but if they’ll be here [for training], they’ll put on clinics for the local coaches, and so that’s a benefit for the islands,” he said. “I’ve already asked them if they could do that and they’ve said yes.”

Among those whom Tucker said expressed interest in conducting the clinics are coaches from basketball and athletics, among others.

“[Local coaches] could watch exhibition games and the other benefit is that you can bring in the younger athletes and they can watch the scrimmages, exhibitions and training that [Olympians] go through and see how disciplined and what strenuous training these athletes go through, and it would help the coaches here motivate these young athletes,” he added.

Tucker said the Marianas would receive much attention if Olympic-bound teams train at their facilities as media from around the world may be focused on the progress of the squads while on the islands.

“The Olympic rings are the most recognized symbols in the world, and the media will report on the athletes training, so that attracts media that you couldn’t buy also,” he said. “It will attract attention to Guam and Saipan that would allow you to better promote sports tourism to the islands.”

He further noted that even when teams leave for the Olympics, the NMI and Guam would be recognized as sites feasible to host other athletic events because their conditions were good enough to host the Olympic athletes.

“It will also provide you with better chance to promote hosting other athletic events here,” he said. “If the facilities are good enough for Olympians to train, then its very easy to sell other sporting events here in the future, so the whole sports things sort of snowballs with that.”

Tucker had earlier explained that the Guam and Commonwealth governments must move quickly in providing funding for marketing as NGBs are expected to make their decisions as to where the teams would be training within this year.

He explained that the U.S. Department of Interior had provided funds for the feasible study recently conducted. DOI, according to Tucker, indicated that it would provide the funds on the condition that if the facilities are found feasible for training sites for the athletes, the local governments would be responsible for funding the marketing, renovation, and cosmetics improvement aspects.

“The local governments have to show that they want to do this,” Tucker said.

Earlier, Tucker disclosed that the facilities are feasible for the acclimating training and that there is potential for luring teams not only from the U.S., but the United Kingdom, Canada, and South America as well.

The Marianas is currently competing with Hong Kong and Korea as training sites, however, Tucker said several conditions, including currency, English as a speaking language, security, and the fact that the Marianas is part of the U.S. favor the islands.