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Historic win for CNMI strikers
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Posted on Dec 29 2011
The CNMI U15 National Team made history this year when it won over Macau, 2-1, in the 2011 East Asian Football Federation U15 Youth Tournament held in Taipei, Taiwan, last July.
The victory was a first for any CNMI soccer squad that competed in an international tournament. Jehn Joyner and Jireh Yobech played big roles in the historic win, as they canned one goal each in the Commonwealth’s game against Macau. Their goals were also the first two goals the CNMI scored in the EAFF youth competition. In the Commonwealth’s first three stints (2006, 2008, and 2010) in the EAFF event, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association-backed squads went home winless and failed to score a single goal.
Joining Joyner on the historic team were Dakota Hall, Jireh Yobech, Jordan Butcher, Enrico del Rosario, Ethan Dickinson, Kenneth Domingo, Gregzon Fontanilla, Joel and Mason Fruit, , William Hinson II, Kennedy Izuka, Hunter Jewell, Andrew Johnson, Angelo Jones, Jake Lee, Sean Perez, and John Taisacan. Jershwin Angeles and Kiyoshi Sekiguchi coached the team, while NMIFA general secretary Ed Salas, Kentaro Imaya, and Carrie Schuler served as team officials.
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Soccer school opens[/B]
A month before the triumphant CNMI youth strikers made a trip to Taiwan, local soccer got a big boost with the establishment of the Saipan Soccer School.
The school opened its doors to the public on June 11 with no less than officials of the renowned Chelsea FC Soccer School (Hong Kong) gracing the inauguration ceremony at the TSL Sports Complex.
Former Hong Kong soccer star Leslie George Santos led the inauguration and were joined by Chelsea FC Soccer School (Hong Kong) technical director Luam Khen Koo, head coach Kwon On “David” Tsui, Chelsea FC Soccer School president Raymond Tan, Tan Holdings board chair Tan Siu Lin, Saipan Soccer School president Jerry Tan, Saipan Mayor Donald Flores, Barrigada Mayor Jesie Palican, Rep. Edmund Villagomez, Michael White, officials from the various football clubs on Saipan, and their players and coaches.
