Lee elected NMIBF president

Officers and members of the Northern Mariana Islands Basketball Federation pose for a photo after their meeting last Thursday at the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. Also on the NMIBF board, but not in the photo is member Keith Nabors of Tinian. (Contributed Photo)

The Northern Marianas Islands Basketball Federation now has a new board following last month’s election at the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Elected as president of the NMIBF is former CNMI National Team player James Lee. Joining Lee on the group are vice president David John Apatang, secretary Roselyn Monroyo, treasurer Ethan Kwon, and board members Lia Rangamar, Keith Nabors, Clint Albert, Marlyn Lumabi, and Irish Pagarao.

Lee said that the new board, during its meeting last Thursday, has identified its priorities for this season, including restructuring the federation, building relationships will all basketball clubs and teams and other stakeholders in the sport, and resuming competitions safely and the national team program with the Micronesian Games in the Marshall Islands just around the corner.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us, as we look into boosting our interscholastic, grassroots, and national team programs. We would deeply appreciate every support we could get from our basketball community to move things forward. In the coming months, we will be engaging teams/clubs, referees, sponsors, and other stakeholders in a series of dialogues to collaborate our efforts in building up one of the most popular sports in the CNMI,” Lee said.

Lee added that on behalf of the NMIBF board, he would like to acknowledge the previous leadership of the Northern Marianas Basketball Federation, led by Lawrence Camacho. The previous board managed to run programs despite having limited resources and facing challenges brought by two super typhoons and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Northern Marianas Sports Association congratulated the members and officers of the NMIBF board looks forward to working with the group in the development of the sport in the islands.

“We are excited for the many possibilities that the new NMIBF board will explore and develop for our basketball community. Basketball has a huge following in the CNMI. In every village you would see a lot of people playing, while leagues and tournaments are held year-round, both outdoor and indoor. With that said, NMSA believes CNMI basketball has a strong potential to keep up with its counterparts in the region, create stronger grassroots and interscholastic programs, and provide more opportunities to players as well as coaches and referees. Congratulations to the new board and NMSA will definitely rally behind NMIBF’s efforts in bringing out the full potential of CNMI basketball,” said NMSA president Jerry Tan.