THE 2023 CNMI Disability Sports Festival on Saipan, led by co-chairs Center for Living Independently Executive Director Susan Satur and Public School System Athletics Program Director Nick Gross, was held Friday at the Marianas High School gym.
Several participants took part in boccia, cornhole, washer toss, sitting volleyball and disc golf from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
According to Gross, the third festival was planned in 2020 but it was shut down by the pandemic.
“I think we’ve done a better job [this year] with disability partners coming together and, in times of economic stress, we were able to [form] an inter-agency group with the support of the grants management office of the governor,” Gross said. “I think everything really came together. We were able to get by and we’re excited to get this annual event back on track.”
Gross said the festival aims to demonstrate inclusion by giving an opportunity to everyone in the community to participate in a sports festival.
Through a partnership between PSS and some of its special education students as well as the Center for Living Independently and its consumers, “anybody with severe and limiting disabilities are able to come together and realize how much fun and easy it is to do activities that include everybody in the entire CNMI,” Gross said.
During the festival’s inaugural event, Gross said there was enough funding for a two-day program that included individuals from Tinian and Rota.
However, in the name of sustainability, they now hold individual festivals on the three main islands, he added.
During the sports festival, everyone is awarded medals. “That is the intent — a participation medal. It is a non-competitive festival,” Gross said.
In the future, there may be room to expand and make it a more competitive festival, but for now, he said it aims to “highlight inclusive activities that are leisure-minded and is fun for anyone in the CNMI to do regardless of your age, disabilities and abilities — it’s a fantastic way to include everyone.”
The sports festival will be held on Tinian this Friday, July 21, while the event on Rota will be held on July 28.
Participants pose with their medals during the 3rd CNMI Disability Sports Festival on Friday at the Marianas High School gym.
Nick Gross explains the rules of volleyball to a group of athletes during the 3rd CNMI Disability Sports Festival on Friday at the Marianas High School gym.
