(Northern Marianas Sports Association) — Gov. Ralph DLG Torres will award CNMI athletes $5,000 for wining a gold medal, $2,500 for silver and $1,000 for bronze in the upcoming Pacific Mini Games’ team and individual sports.
On top of the incentive package, Governor Torres will also award $1,000 to each member of a CNMI team that will win gold medals in their respective event. Individual event CNMI gold medalists will get an additional $1,000.
“Our athletes are indeed ‘Rising Up to the Challenge’ as they’ve been working hard since last year to get ready for the 2022 Northern Mariana Pacific Mini Games,” the governor said. “We acknowledge their efforts and commitment to their sports and to Team NMI and wish them good luck in next month’s competition.”
He added, “More than the monetary incentive, our Team NMI will be inspired to give their best in the competition as they see our community watching the games and cheering for them, so let’s rally behind our athletes and support them in their bid to bring honor to our islands.”
The 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games will run from June 17 to 25 and will feature nine sports. Athletics events will be held at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field facility from June 21 to 25, while badminton games will take place at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium from June 20 to 25.
Baseball and tennis will have an early start with games set for June 16 to 25. Baseball games will be held at the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios while the Pacific Islands Club and American Memorial Park will be the tennis venues.
Beach volleyball will be played at the Crowne Plaza on Saipan and on Tinian; triathlon on Rota; va’a or canoe racing at the 13 Fishermen Monument each; and weightlifting at Marianas High School. These events are set from June 20 to 24.
Golf, for its part, will hit the greens of Coral Ocean Resort from June 21 to 24.
More than 1,000 athletes, officials, and guests from 20 countries and territories will gather on Saipan for the opening ceremonies set for June 17.
Joining the host CNMI in this year’s Pacific Mini Games are American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna.
The Northern Marianas Sports Association thanked Governor Torres for providing incentives to CNMI athletes and for his continued support in ensuring the successful delivery of the Mini Games.
Incentive programs for medalists are standard practice across the globe, especially for host countries. In the Pacific, when Papua New Guinea hosted the 2015 Pacific Games, PNG awarded 20,000 kina, which is equivalent to nearly $6,000, to team and individual gold medalists. In the 2017 Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu, the host country gave 250,000 vatu or over $2,000 to team and individual gold medalists.
Governor Ralph DLG Torres addresses the crowd during the launching of the one-year countdown to the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games at the Oleai Sports Complex last year. Torres will provide incentives to CNMI medalists in the Mini Games that will run from June 17 to 25.
