Sports Hall of Fame nominees due today

Nomination papers for the candidates for the 2015 Class of the CNMI Sports Hall of Fame are due in today’s Northern Marianas Sports Association 7pm meeting at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium conference room.

Nomination must be submitted in writing and must include the individual’s name, age, and years in his or her sport. Statistics and other proof of the individual’s contribution to CNMI sports must also be included in the documents.

The deadline was set as the special committee NMSA board created needs to deliberate and discuss information about the nominees before making a decision on who will join an elite cast of 18 earlier inductees.

Kurt Barnes, Jose Tenorio Sablan, Ricardo Duenas, Antonio Benavente, Jean and Bill Sakovich, Mike Villagomez, Jeff Race, Frank Castro, Tony Rogolifoi, Tony Satur, Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios, Cecilia Lisua, Bertha Chong, Mel Sakisat, Michael White, and the late Jess Wabol and Irene Alpet were enshrined on the CNMI Sports Hall of Fame.

The committee and the entire NMSA membership also want to keep the names of the candidates a secret before revealing them in time for next year’s NMSA awards banquet, where they will also name the Male and Female Athletes of the Year, and TSL Foundation Male and Female Student Athletes of the Year.

Hall of Fame inductee and NMSA vice president Kurt Barnes said any individual, not only the sports federation, can nominate an athlete or official that will be inducted to the CNMI Sports Hall of Fame.

“However, a nominee must be in a sport whose federation is in good standing and a NMSA member,” said Barnes, who is also the head of the committee screening the candidates.

Athletes, coach, officials, and sports administrators from each member federation are eligible for nomination. Athletes and officials must be at least 35 years old and should be involved in his or her sports federation for at least 10 years. For coaches and administrators, age must be at least 45 years old and minimum involvement in sports is 15 years.

All nominees must be a U.S. citizen or have achieved distinction as a CNMI representative and must have resided in the Commonwealth for at least 10 years.

The nomination papers and other documents can be dropped off at the Ada gym or email it to Barnes at dr.kurtbarnes@rocketmail.com.

For more information, call Rogolifoi or Elias Rangamar at 234-6674 or Dr. Barnes at 235-5853. (Jon Perez)