Fields of dream

Any time over five hundred people participate in any sporting event on Saipan, someone should take note. Okay, I’ll do it.

The Winter Festival of Runs sponsored by Marianas Visitor’s Authority attracted 533 runners aged 8 to 88, most of them coming from Japan.

For the record, I love Russian tourists. For what’s it worth, I like them better than college football’s Bowl Championship Series.

If only the Department of Homeland Security appreciated them as much we do.

News that a Russia-China visa waiver program could possibly take 12-18 months, and without any guarantee that it will even happen despite its significance to the lifeblood of the CNMI, means it’s time to re-focus on Japan and Korea.

Thanks to a Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs approved grant of $145,000, Palacios Baseball Field will get a major upgrade to satisfy the LG Twins, a Korean professional team, and keep them coming for their annual winter training. That’s the kind of federal intervention we need!

Another Korean professional team, the Lotte Giants, is now at Kan Pacific Field in Marpi. A new practice infield is being installed to accommodate their needs. Talking to their manager last year, he informed me that they preferred coming here over Hawaii and Arizona due to the proximity of Saipan to Korea.

These professional teams are a welcome shot to our beleaguered economy. While they are a positive contribution, the real boost would be if we could get more of the Korean teams so that could play exhibition games prior to their regular season. That would bring millions into the economy due to media and fans arriving, which is why places in Florida and Arizona bend over backwards to accommodate major league teams.

I salute MVA for their efforts in attracting Korean baseball teams.

The major stumbling block is that Saipan has only two baseball fields, which means that we can only accommodate two teams right now. More quality fields and practice facilities would open us to more teams. Of course, that would take more money and flat land, two commodities in short supply.

I remain convinced that sports and eco-tourism represent a viable solution to our economic well-being. Of course, if we can tap into the Russian and Chinese market, that represents a vast potential that could test our capacity to handle huge numbers. What a nice problem that would be to have!

This week Pacific Islands Club is at peak occupancy. They are doing an especially excellent job in attracting Russians. They don’t even need to sponsor sporting events to get them to come.

But as for Japanese tourists, we must be extra creative and aggressive to get more of them. Inviting running clubs, such as what happened last week, is one way of getting people to come and enjoy the best of Saipan, which are sun and sky and nature.

The ZDM club came with 45 runners, all of them elderly, some with osteoporosis. For them, it was a crowning achievement near the end of their lives. It was heartwarming to see the smiles on their faces at the finish line. They received certificates of completion and T-shirts forever commemorating their accomplishment.

They smiled at me as I took their picture. And I smiled back.

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