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Masters caging on hold because of power situation
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Posted on Aug 25 2008
With the rolling power outages affecting the nightly tournaments at the Oleai Sports Complex, the coordinator of the 2008 Master Basketball League said they will open shop only when generators from the U.K.-based Agrekko International are already operational.
“It would be futile to open the league this month and then cancel games due to a power outage. It will be very inconvenient and frustrating for players, coaches, referees, and spectators to have games suspended in the middle of the match because the power went off, ” MBL coordinator Arnold Mesa said.
“I think all the generators will be arriving mid September. Only then we will decide when to open the league,” he added.
The first shipment of generators from Aggreko International arrived at the Saipan port Sunday afternoon. Three more shipments will be arriving on Saipan before Aggreko International installs its generators which will hopefully help ease the power crisis on the island.
MBL was originally planned to kick off on Aug. 20 with new rules on recruitment of players.
Teams interested in participating in the 2008 season of the league, which is open to players in the 35-and-above age group, can now recruit five players aged 35 years old. The remaining seven slots on the team must be filled by players in the 40, 45, 50, and 55 age brackets. The new rules on recruitment will create balance in the league.
Before, MBL was divided into two divisions, namely the 35-and-above and 45-and-above age groups.
Games will be held at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium, which was affected by the frequent power outages causing the cancellation of games in the PTI and Rotary cage leagues. Matches in the title series in the 2008 Budweiser Saipan Major League baseball tournament at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield had been also suspended due to power outages.
For more information about the 2008 MBL, call Mesa at 868-6578.
