NMIBF says still a lot more work to be done

Lee

Northern Mariana Islands Basketball Federation president James Lee is not about to pat himself on the back for reviving the sport of basketball on the islands and admits they’re still far from accomplishing their goals.

“NMIBF has accomplished a lot over the past years and have definitely come a long way in terms of being active with various programs to bring basketball back on active mode. However, there is still a lot more work to be done,” he said.

For one, Lee said NMIBF is still behind in working with local basketball clubs in terms of giving them guidance with their administration as well as providing them training support with coaching and other programs that might apply to their club to help them grow. 

He said NMIBF hopes to tackle that this year.

Asked what is NMIBF’s biggest accomplishments this year, Lee said hands down it would be the national program for both the juniors and seniors and having them compete in the FIBA Micronesian Cup and U15 Oceania Championship last year.  

“The goal for the national program was to create a standard for our basketball athletes when representing our home and being part of the national team. It was a difficult task and it still is because trying to change the ‘culture’ mindset on what it takes to represent such as training year round and also being a role model by being involved in community service was not an easy ask of commitment from our athletes.” 

Despite that challenge, Lee and the NMIBF board felt this was important to establish in order for the CNMI to be competitive when going to off-island competitions. 

As for plans for the new year, Lee said NMIBF will continue to grow grassroots programs like the Mini Basketball Village Outreach Program or BOLA, Basketball for Goods, and Interscholastic Leagues, just to name a few, in 2023. 

“We will continue on with our national programs as well, both the juniors and seniors, and will have them ready for the 2023 Micronesian Games as well as other offshore competition that might arise,” he said.

On behalf of NMIBF, Lee said he would like to thank all the federation’s supporters, namely FIBA Oceania, the Tan Siu Lin Foundation/Tan Holdings, IT&E, Marpac, the CNMI Public School System, and all the companies on the island that had donated to assist our federations. 

“Special thanks also to our volunteer coaches for their time and effort, our athletes for their commitment, and my board members for their hard work,” he said.