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NMBA to start plans for 2021 Mini Games
Northern Marianas Badminton Association president Merlie Tolentino, right, poses with former NMBA head Tae Ho Kim after the group’s election last week at the TSL Sports Complex. (Jon Perez)
The Northern Marianas Badminton Association is set to begin planning for the 2021 Pacific Mini Games as badminton is one of the sports that will be played when Saipan hosts the quadrennial event.
NMBA president Merlie Tolentino said that one of their plans is to begin looking for possible youth players that could compete against regional powerhouses New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tahiti.
“We’re the hosts so first we need to have a team. Second, we need to put our best foot forward and have competitive players against other countries,” said Tolentino, who replaced Tae Ho Kim as CNMI badminton chief.
To identify potential players that will represent the Commonwealth to the 2021 Mini Games, NMBA is aiming to revive its youth program.
The association will also seek assistance from Badminton Oceania and plans to form partnerships with some Southeast Asian countries that are known to have a strong badminton program. Indonesia and Malaysia have been the traditional powerhouses in badminton in Southeast Asia, while Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines are not far behind.
“Right now, the new board must first meet to discuss how we are going to move forward with these plans. We need to come up with steps to realize these plans since 2021 is just three years away,” added Tolentino.
Chris Hilario (first vice president), Tommy Kim (second vice president), Shirley Kim (treasurer), Cristy Villaflor (secretary general), and members Jaja Samonte, Elna Curate, Hannah Choi, Lani Santos, and Patrick Fernandez join Tolentino on the NMBA board.
Besides badminton, athletics, baseball, canoe (va’a), golf, sailing, swimming, tennis, triathlon, volleyball (beach and indoor), weightlifting, and wrestling are the other sports that will be offered in the scaled down version of the Pacific Games, which Saipan will be hosting for the first time.
