NMA to look for All Schools alternative venue

Northern Mariana Athletics president Ramon A. Tebuteb said they have to look for an alternative venue as some of their events would be pushed back due to the resurfacing of the Oleai track facility.

Northern Marianas Athletics officials are looking at using the Hopwood Junior High School field as alternative venue for the McDonald’s All-Schools Track and FieldChampionships when resurfacing of the Oleai track facility starts.
(Jon Perez)

“We have to look at other options since NMSA will be closing the track once resurfacing begins. We will be changing the dates of some events, especially those NMA events that are held at the track facility,” Tebuteb told Saipan Tribune in an interview yesterday.

Northern Marianas Sports Association, through a Community Development Block Grant from the Northern Marianas Housing Corp., is working on getting the rubber surface fixed this year after black patches and bubbles have formed on the decade-old facility.

Tebuteb, one of the six representatives of Saipan’s Precinct 3, said finding another venue will be one of the agenda in NMA’s meeting tomorrow at 5:30pm at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium conference room.

The McDonald’s-Public School System All-Schools Track and Field Championships is one of the NMA events that will be affected by the resurfacing work at the facility since qualifiers in the CNMI-wide tournament runs from March to April. The finals is held every May.

“The challenge this time is to have an alternative. We don’t want to cancel the All-Schools. Our kids’ performances are important, but as much as we want to push ahead with the event, the safety of our kids is our number one concern,” said Tebuteb.

“Every year we submit the names of best elementary and high school athletes to the International Association of Athletics Federations which compiled all the names given by member federations,” said Tebuteb. “From there, they pick out names of several athletes who will get free training from developed countries.”

Tebuteb said one of their options is to use the field at Hopwood Junior High School.

“We’re planning to meet with the coaches of all the schools to ask them about their opinion. As of now, we’re open to any suggestions coming from everyone. Again, we’re thinking of the safety of all the kids.”

He added that fixing the facility temporarily, which was the same thing they did last year, is no longer an alternative since more bubbles have formed on the track surface.

“Last year, with the help of some Precinct 3 volunteers, we managed to fix the track temporarily. Paul Ackerman provided some of the materials. What we did is cut some holes on the bubbles to let the air out, pushed it down, and put tape on it.”

“We can’t do the same thing right now since there are a lot of bubbles and black patches all over the surface.”

Meanwhile, NMSA is hoping to start with the bidding process for the resurfacing once NMHC gives its clearance to begin the project to avoid the rainy season. At least two months are needed for putting the adhesive and laying out the track.