Champi cancels weekend games

Soccer and basketball games last Friday and Saturday were called off due to Tropical Storm Champi.

Tan Holdings and Paire FC players, seen here in action during the opening week of the NMIFA youth fall league, will return to action this Saturday after last weekend’s matches were suspended due to Typhoon Champi. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Northern Mariana Islands Football Association decided to suspend Week 2 games in all age group competitions in the 2015 NMIFA Youth Fall League Friday afternoon after Saipan heavy rains and strong winds hit Saipan early Friday morning.

“Games for all age groups, competitive and non-competitive, are cancelled tomorrow (Saturday). More severe weather conditions are expected to prevail later today (Friday) and most or all soccer fields may not be ready by tomorrow (Saturday). A lot of players may not be able to show up for their games due to the aftermath of the Champi and as of now it appears that a lot of areas are flooded and without power,” NMIFA general secretary Ross Zapanta said in an email forwarded to club coaches and referees.

The youth league was supposed to have three games each in the girls and boys U15 age groups and two apiece in the co-ed U12 and boys U18 for the competitive level at the Hopwood Elementary School and Oleai Sports Complex pitches. In the non-competitive category, various clubs were scheduled to play in the co-ed U6, U8, U18, and U-12 (B division) age groups at the different school pitches on Saipan.

Week 2 games will be scheduled on a later date as NMIFA will proceed with Week 3 matches this weekend.

In the Week 3 schedule (Oct. 24), MP United will take on Kanoa, while Tan Holdings will collide against Paire in the co-ed U12 competitive division at the Hopwood pitch at 1pm. For the boys U18 age group, it will be Matansa versus Tan Holdings in the first game at 2:30pm, while at 4:15pm, MP United will duel Paire. Both U18 matches will take place at the Oleai pitch.

In the girls U15 matches at the Hopwood pitch, the schedule is as follows: Kanoa vs Tan Holdings; Shirley’s vs Paire; and MP United vs Matansa. For the boys U15, Kanoa will face Tan Holdings 1 at the Oleai pitch, which will also host the game between Shirley’s and MP United, while the Paire-Matansa tiff will be played at Hopwood.

Meanwhile, organizers of the 2015 San Antonio Community Action Network Basketball League cancelled matches from Thursday to Saturday and were scheduled to resume games last night.

Yesterday’s matches were all in the open division with Ferrera Builders set to meet GMI Market in the curtain-raiser and MJD slated to square off against Islander Hoops in the nightcap.