Gabriel White who represented the BANMI before the Rotary Club members at the Hyatt Regency Saipan yesterday said that the funds that they receive can go a long way to train more potential basketball players in the island.
“The BANMI is the premier youth basketball association league of the NMI, and we get as many as 18 to 20 teams and with about 15 players for each team to compete each year,” White said.
The annual Saipan Rotary Club Youth Basketball tournament usually runs from four to five months due to the big number of participating teams.
“Each year, we are always surprised at the increasing number of teams who want to join the tournament, but we are happy for this,” he said.
White added that the registration fee for each playing team is $100 and they use the fees they collected to pay for the use of Ada Gym, utilities, for referees and other administrative fees.
White extends his thanks to the Rotary Club and all the businesses that have been supporting the BANMI for the past 18 years. He said that their goal as the association nears its second decade is to increase the participation in the number of players.
“We always want to work with the different businesses in the island, and when the tournament opens, we may knock on your doors to seek sponsorship with the uniforms of the different teams,” White said.
Participating in the BANMI tournaments has a lot of incentives, including personal development by acquiring a healthy and active lifestyle and staying away from negative influences, and sports development by getting a chance to represent the NMI in off-island tournaments.
White said that in addition to improving their playing skills, the team members also get to improve their coaching and player skills.
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