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‘Marianas Cup is a great idea’
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Posted on Jan 13 2022
Northern Marianas National Paddle Sports Federation president Justin Andrew, left, poses with Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games Organizing Committee chair Vicente “Ben” Babauta after the blessing of the outrigger canoes last Nov. 19 at Kilili Beach. (Mark Rabago)
The Northern Marianas National Paddle Sports Federation is backing the establishment of a Marianas Cup-type tournament, which is an annual CNMI-Guam competition for all sports patterned after the soccer federation’s Marianas Cup.
NMNPSF president Justin Andrew said he fully supports Northern Marianas Sports Association president Jerry Tan’s call for the creation of the Marianas Cup among all sports in the CNMI.
“The Marianas Cup is a great idea. This will urge our local athletes to continuously train and compete and improve their game,” he said.
Andrew, who also heads the Saipan Paddling Club, said the formation of the Marianas Cup would also improve NMNPSF’s relationship with its counterpart in Guam.
“I think for now as we jumpstart this Marianas Cup, it’s best that each federation coordinate with their federation counterparts in Guam for the competition plans. This should also include the sharing of resources like training programs and equipment to foster a better relationship while improving the competitiveness of our local athletes. It’s a win-win situation!”
Saipan Paddling Club, Napu Outrigger Canoe Club, Marianas Outrigger Club, and Marianas Pacific Paddlers make up the clubs under the NMNPSF.
NMSA has so far floated four options on how the Marianas Cup would proceed. The first option would be Guam hosting as much as 18 sports. The second option is the CNMI will take the hosting duties. The third is the CNMI and Guam will split the sports with half taking place in the latter and the other half in the former. The fourth, which Tan concedes is the most doable, is individual sports will arrange their respective Marianas Cup events against their counterpart sports federations in Guam.
Tan said the genesis of the Marianas Cup idea came about following the postponement of the 2022 Micronesian Games. He said a lot of athletes training for the 2022 Games in the Marshall Islands would effectively have to wait another year to compete in a regional event.
The Marianas Cup, Tan said, would give athletes the impetus to train year-round because they always have a yearly competition to look forward to.
