THE Public School System athletics programs resumes Wednesday with the start of the girls high school basketball tournament at 5 p.m. at the Marianas High School Gym.
Saipan Southern High School faces Mount Carmel School while Marianas High School goes up against Kagman High School.
In an email, PSS athletics program director Nick Gross said with the cancellation of the 2nd quarter athletic programs, a combination of the 2nd and 3rd quarter sports, specifically the boys and girls high school basketball tournaments, will be launched this week.
The next sports event, boys middle school volleyball, will start Thursday at the MHS gym. The south court games will be played inside the gym while the games scheduled for the north court will be played outside.
At the north court, the games will start at 5 p.m. with Tanapag Middle School 2 pitted against Hopwood Middle School 1 while in the south court, TMS 1 will challenge HOP2 at 5 p.m. For its part, Francisco M. Sablan Middle School goes head-to-head with Saipan International School 1 at 6 p.m.
Then on Friday, the boys high school basketball tournament will start at 5 p.m. at the MHS gym with Saipan Southern High School playing against Kagman High School V while Saipan International School goes mano a mano with Mount Carmel School JV. These will be followed by SIS vs Marianas High School, and Da’ok Academy vs MCS V at 5:45 p.m.
On Saturday, the co-ed elementary school volleyball tournament will start at 9 a.m. at Chacha Oceanview Middle School.
With the number of Covid-19 cases still rising, Gross said they will continue to enforce safety protocols. “We will re-double our effort to mitigate exposure to Covid-19 and more effectively assist Public Health with its tracking of infection(s),” he added.
“All indoor sports programs conducted at the MHS gym over the course of January and February 2022 will have greatly reduced spectators as only the west-side bleachers will be available and social distancing and mask-wearing will be in place,” he said.
Spectators will use the main entrance while the east-side bleachers will be reserved for participating teams, coaches, and officials who will use the south-west entrance.
Both entrances will require temperature screening and logging in upon arrival.
“The decision to limit spectators and supporters was reached in hopes of mitigating exposure and the spread of Covid-19 while reassuring the public, student-athletes, and partner sport federations of the safety protocols in place,” Gross said.
Moreover, all student athletes, 12 years old and above, must provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination and must submit parental consent and Covid-19 forms to be eligible to compete.
“It is our desire that through mitigation such as reduced spectators, and following the 3 W’s [Wear a mask, Wash your hands, Watch your distance], we will be able to safely resume athletic opportunities. Hopefully, we’ll be able to resume regular programming without as many restrictions as 2022 progresses,” Gross said.
A Tinian player attempts a running shot over an MCS defender during the championship game of the 2019-2020 PSS boys high school basketball tournament at the MHS gym.
