NMIVA said it is looking forward to bring AVP players, Paul Baxter and Jennifer Snyder again. And along with Andrew Fuller and Claire D’ Amore, the returning U.S. pros will once again make the 18th Marianas Cup another unforgettable sports event in the Pacific.
The 18th Marianas Cup will be held from Feb. 22 to 28 at the Pacific Island Club.
Baxter and Jennifer are among the U.S. volleyball pros who visited Saipan during the 17th Marianas Cup. Aside from filling up the event with a lot of excitements, the pros also visited schools where they spoke to the children about teamwork, motivation and commitment to sports.
The volleyball fans and event organizers got a bonus last year when pros from Japan and Korea also arrived. Japan’s Shinako Tanaka, Hiromo Suzuki and Korea’s Kyung Su Shin and Su Min Jun played against the U.S. pros in the exhibition games.
NMIVA assured that this year’s Marianas Cup will be more exciting.
NMIVA President Laurie Peterka said they have established additional exposure via their new website www.nmivolleyball.org and have stepped up their communications with New Zealand, Vanuatu, and Fiji via Oceania Zonal Volleyball Federation.
“Additionally, we are being featured online and in print by the Asian Volleyball Confederation. Also, Hafa Adai Beach Magazine did a feature story on last year’s event and generously put in an entire section in the February 2010 issue,” she said.
Peterka noted that with the continuous support of the community, the Marianas Cup has reached it 18th year. The island community she said had the chance to see the event grow in the number of participants and divisions.
The range of participation also spread out to as far as Australia, Japan, Korea, Guam, US, and Italy.
Two years ago, the FIVB sanctioned the Marianas Cup and noted that it is a “one-of-a-kind” event in the beach volleyball world.
“The buzz word in the international beach volleyball community is “…you’ve gotta check out this really cool event,” Peterka added.
