SOCHO Basketball Club was established after Super Typhoon Yutu devastated Saipan and Tinian.
“We were coworkers and friends who wanted to do more so we formed a team, and now we are striving for more. #SOCHO #IYKYK!” said Matt Iguel, the club president.
Its other officers are vice president Thomas Castro, secretary Mariano “Jun” Aguon, treasurers Kozo Litulumar and Lucky Sharry.
During one of their get-togethers, Iguel said one of them brought Soju and Choco Pie which gave them the name of their club: Socho.
“Our club was created just for our friends so we can enjoy the game of basketball,” Iguel said. “After a while, more people joined and now our goal is to play, teach and inspire more youths or adults to come out and enjoy the sport.”
Socho is an unofficial club at the moment, but Iguel said they plan to make it an official non-profit organization soon.
“For now we focus on basketball. We do want to extend to other sports but that will be for another time. Right now we want to put basketball back on the sports map of Saipan,” Iguel added.
The club has been joining tournaments and now has two teams.
“We also have adopted the As Matuis basketball court under the Private Public Partnership program of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers. We will join other upcoming events to show that we are here for our community,” Iguel said.
Members of the Socho Basketball Club pose for a photo with some of the supporters and proponents of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers’ public-private partnership program.
Contributed photo
