THREE Marianas High School graduates and two from Kagman High School will receive athletic scholarship assistance from the University of Guam and Tan Siu Lin Foundation.
MHS’s Christian Tapay, Paulyn Grace A. Joyce, Aloyzeus Angeles and KHS’s Antonio Norita and Isaiah Teigita signed their letters of intent to play with UOG President Dr. Thomas Krise and Enrollment Management & Student Success Dean Lawrence Camacho during a UOG alumni luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Giovanni’s Restaurant on Friday.
Tapay, who plans to take up kinesiology, will join UOG’s basketball team; Norita and Teigita who will pursue a degree in criminal justice, will play baseball for UOG; Joyce, who wants to be a civil engineer someday, signed up with the Lady Tritons soccer team; while Angeles will join the UOG’s men’s soccer team.
In an interview, Tapay, who was a point guard with the Chinatown Titans, Rollers and Ol’ Aces in different CNMI basketball leagues, said he wants to thank his family and friends who supported him, as well as his coaches, Walter Mendez and Joe Diaz, “for always pushing me to be the best that I am right now.”
He said he felt kind of nervous “but I know this will open doors for me” while getting more academic knowledge from the university.
Joyce, a former member of the NMI national women’s football team, said she was very grateful for the opportunity to be a student athlete at UOG.
She said just two months ago, she didn’t know what college to choose. It was Northern Marianas Technical Institute trustee Catherine Toves-Attao who told her about UOG’s athletic scholarship program.
“I always wanted to play sports when I go to college so this opportunity is perfect,” Joyce said.
Krise said the athletic scholarship assistance is part of UOG’s student enrichment initiative which aims to ensure a full college experience for student athletes.
For his part, Camacho said UOG wants to “have and promote a robust athletics program.”
Camacho said they were also grateful to the Tan Sui Lin Foundation which provided a total of $10,000 for the five students — each will receive $2,000.
He said UOG hopes to bring in more student athletes from the CNMI.
Northern Marianas Sports Association President Jerry Tan, a UOG alumnus himself, congratulated the five student athletes.
He said he is very proud of UOG and for what it has done for the community on Guam and the CNMI.
The five CNMI student athletes, seated, and their parents, pose for a photo with University of Guam President Dr. Thomas Krise, third left back row, UOG Enrollment Management & Student Success Dean Lawrence Camacho, right, Northern Marianas Sports Association President Jerry Tan, second right, and other UOG officials.
