FishGuyz Scuba & Charter is gold sponsor for Mini Games

FishGuyz Scuba & Charter Co. owners pose with the Pacific Mini Games organizing committee at the Sugar Dock in Chalan Kanoa yesterday morning after their more than $50,000 in-kind donations made them a gold sponsor for the event.(LEIGH GASES(

With the Sugar Dock and the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games vehicle as the backdrop, FishGuyz Scuba & Charter Co. formalized its $50,000 in-kind donation as gold sponsor of the Mini Games yesterday.

The company’s contribution to the quadrennial event is the completion of the outrigger or va’a course at the 13 Fisherman Memorial Monument Beach and Mini Games Organizing Committee CEO Vicente “Ben” Babauta thanked the company for their support.

“Thank you guys for all your support at the beginning, looking at what needs to be done… I was clueless out there, I was stunned. It was a lot of work… That was a long process obviously and there were barriers but we accomplished it…”

Babauta added that they were mobilizing logistics already starting yesterday, which are the container office, the tents, and the flag poles.

According to FishGuyz, they will be repainting all the buoys on June 10 or seven days prior to the start of the Mini Games.

Sydney Takahashy, owner of FishGuyz, said they donated to the Mini Games was because of the legacy of being part of the first Mini Games held in the CNMI.

“​The first time we came in and talked to Ben he said this will be a legacy. So you know, we want to be part of this. And working with these guys… it’s amazing. It’s been really amazing. Just to be part of it, I think that’s what really excited us. This is the first time we actually did something like this. We’re very excited. And this is for the CNMI right? This is the first ever kind… for us to host something like this and to be a part of it. It’s a legacy and it’s something that we contribute for the Commonwealth.”

Babauta described how helpful the FishGuyz was with figuring out how to create it. “When they were describing it, I had no knowledge about it, but when they saw it, it’s just a lot of work being done out in the water in lieu of one, just the area. Finding the depth and of course all the permitting and for FishGuyz to literally have a team diving in and putting the anchor and one of them pounding and one of them pulling down the buoy. It’s an art. It’s an art itself in the water.”

“It was just amazing that the FishGuyz was able to facilitate 350 buoys or anchors in lieu of eight lanes for our events. We do have 36 canoes that we’re ready to launch and that lane is really critical for the Mini Games and also certification for va’a international delegates,” added Babauta.

“It was a lot of teamwork… without them working on the permits and stuff like that, we wouldn’t get things done on time,” added Takahashy.

There were 10 full-time staff including Takahashy himself and five part-time staff that helped out with the course.