Bola, Girls HS hoops pushed back

The Northern Mariana Islands Basketball Association has rescheduled two of its events as safety measure against the recent COVID-19 cases in the community.

NMIBF president James Lee said the federation is moving the kick-off of Bola, a mini basketball village outreach program, to Nov. 20, while the IT&E Interscholastic Girls High School Basketball League’s opening has been reset to Nov. 17. Bola was originally set to start this Saturday, Nov. 6 at the Koblerville Basketball Court, while the girls HS hoops was initially scheduled to unfurl this Friday, Nov. 5, at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

In this 2020 file photo, Marianas High School Varsity’s Kiana Rangamar takes a shot against the MHS Junior Varsity’s Nathanette Blas during the first half of their title game in the 2019-2020 Public School System Interscholastic Girls High School Basketball League at the MHS Gymnasium. The opening of the girls high school competition this season has been moved to Nov. 17. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

“We want to thank all those who have inquired about Bola and those who offered their assistance to the program. However, we can’t go ahead with the original schedule because of the COVID-19 cases in our community. Safety first. We will keep the public posted and hopefully we can start the program safely on Nov. 20, still at the Koblerville Basketball Court.

The remaining schedule for Bola sessions are as follows: Nov. 21 at Garapan Basketball Court; Nov. 27 at Civic Center Court; Nov. 28 at Kagman Community Center Court; Dec. 4 at Chinatown Basketball Court; Dec. 5 at San Vicente Community Center; and Dec. 13 at As Matuis Basketball Court. Each session will run from 4pm to 6pm and registration is free and open to children in the 12 years old and below age group. To register, send email to nmibf.bola@gmail.com or visit the community centers in your respective villages. Registration and waiver forms will also be posted at the NMIBF Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NMIBasketballFederation.

Bola, which is co-presented by the NMIBF, FIBA Oceania, and FIBA Foundation, will have a culminating event on Dec. 20 with all the participants in the regular sessions invited to join the Inter-Village Mini Basketball Games at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Meanwhile, the NMIBF has moved the opening of the girls HS hoops after receiving communication from Public School System athletics program director Nick Gross.

“Due to the governor’s closure directive on all schools, we will make plans to continue with our season, beginning Nov. 17, but this will be dependent upon the status of the government and PSS directives,” Gross said.

The NMIBF opened the 2021-2022 season in September with the staging of the girls middle school competition and then took a break for nearly two weeks before the scheduled resumption of court action, via the girls high school caging. Eleven teams have confirmed participation in this season’s girls HS hoops.

Besides pushing back the start of the girls HS competition and Bola, the NMIBF has also suspended the training sessions for the NMI National Team Program. Practice sessions this Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday have been canceled and may resume next week, depending on the directive of the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force as safety precaution against the pandemic. (PR)