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Women ready to rumble at Garapan pitch
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Posted on Apr 19 2006
They’ve spent countless hours starting from scratch, assembling their ranks, and practicing on the grass, and now the women of the Northern Mariana Islands Football (Soccer) Association are ready to take Saipan by storm when they open up the first women’s league this weekend at the Garapan Elementary School pitch.
Two games will ring in the new era of women’s sports in the CNMI when coach Marcos Alonso leads Rebecca Rath, TeMary Gramlich, Lisa Riley, Becky Covarrubias, Roxie Lamar, Laila Qudsi, Marsha Owens, Melissa Halaby, and Tina Chau of the UMDA Crushers to battle coach Jesse Phonsutjit, Brenda Schultz, Patricia Coleman, Betty “Strong Work” Johnson, Linda Anastacio, Mi Yeon Cho, Alenny Tenorio, Vince Asanuma, Joanne Nicholls, Gayle Berger, and Gene Chageris of Fotten Fiesta this Saturday at 3pm.
The match kicks off the three-week season in fine fashion as teams strive for points to reach the postseason atop the standings. The action continues at 5pm when coach Perry Lo, Grace “Roast Beef” Villagracia, Allison Livingston, Kyung Hee Jang, Vicky Taitano, Emma Baron, Na Yeon Kim, Maria Sidorova, Laila Portuguez, and Tin Tin Win of the Saipan Grand Fire Dawgs try to poke a win against the coaching tandem of Wesley Bogdan and Dr. Nathan Tan, Sara Helbert, Catherine Anderson, Berliann Higgins, Shirley Dotts, Fran Castro, Irma Halaby, Delia Johnson, Loraine Liwiski, Deja Whitt, and Thin Thin Conlon of the Marianas Eye-yeye-yeye.
“There are 38 women playing and five dedicated coaches. We are ecstatic about the first women’s soccer tournament on Saipan,” said Schultz.
There will be a full slate of games the following week as each of the teams will play two games on Saturday, April 29, and the playoffs and subsequent championship round of play take place on Saturday, May 6.
Every game counts as the teams earn two points for a win, one point for a tie, and gain nothing with a loss. The first tiebreaker will be goals scored, followed by the ever-popular coin flip to determine seed ranking.
Organizers hope that this is just the start of things to come for the local soccer scene, and the big picture bodes well for women’s sports in the CNMI.
