Saipan Soccer School donates equipment

 Saipan Soccer School turned over a set of equipment to five football clubs last week to help in the grassroots development of the sport in the CNMI.

Jerry Tan, SSS president, led the presentation of donation to the representatives of Matansa Football Club, MP United FC, Paire Football Club, Tan Holdings FC, and Shirley’s FC in a brief ceremony last Friday at the lobby of the Saipan Grand Hotel. Tan handed each club official 10 pieces of small cones, eight big ones, and 48 colorful discs.

“This is just the first part of Saipan Soccer School’s donation. We will also be donating balls to all the clubs and also all the schools in the CNMI,” Tan said.

“We decided to go ahead with the donation presentation without the soccer balls while the youth league is on going. We may distribute the balls next month when the youth league is scheduled to finish and these balls can be used to prepare the players for the fall season and in scrimmages/clinics during the school vacation,” Tan added.

Present to receive the donation for MP United were U18 coach Brad Ruszala and club official Vickie Izuka.

“There is no coach who does not love to use cones for practices. This set of equipment will definitely help us in training our youth players,” said Ruszala, who uses cones and discs as line markers during practices.

“We would like to thank Saipan Soccer School for giving us the necessary tools to improve our players’ skills and helping the clubs become better,” Ruszala added.

Paire coach Patricia Coleman also expressed the club’s appreciation for the donation.

“On behalf of Paire, we would like to thank the Saipan Soccer School for their donation and for all their assistance in the development of the sport here, particularly the youth football development. We are grateful to the school for allowing us to use the facility at the TSL Complex and for bringing the Chelsea coaches and helping our youth players,” Coleman said.

The Paire official is talking about the different Chelsea FC Soccer School (Hong Kong) coaches who started arriving on Saipan since the school was formed in June last year to help boost the sport here. Right now, there are two coaches on loan from Chelsea and are assisting the CNMI youth teams and providing help to various clubs. They are Jimmy Tang and Cui Jun Jie, who were also present during the donation ceremony, along with Saipan Soccer School staff members Ruselle Zapanta, Jersh Angeles, and Angie Ito.

Joining Coleman, Ruszala, and Izuka in accepting the donation were Matansa vice president Glenn Perez, general secretary Joven Cruz, and treasurer Elna Curate, Tan Holdings FC president Eli Arago, and Shirley’s FC’s Benjielyn Del Rosario.

“Our kids from Tanapag and the northern side of the island will truly appreciate the donation. They don’t have to come to the fields in the southern part of the island to play and practice, as we have enough equipment to use in our own pitches,” Perez said. “Through this donation, we could cater to more youth and encourage them to join the sport.”