Saipan International School’s Casey Chambers, right, receives a shot from Kagman High School 2 during their game in the 2023-2024 PSS-TakeCare Interscholastic Badminton League at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium on Saturday.
A player from Dr. Rita H. Inos Junior/Senior High School serves to Marianas High School 3 during their game in the 2023-2024 PSS-TakeCare Interscholastic Badminton League at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium on Saturday
(NMBA) — A record 15 teams, including first-time participant Dr. Rita H. Inos Junior/Senior High School of Rota, are competing in the co-ed high school division of the 2023-2024 PSS-TakeCare Interscholastic Badminton League.
Now in its third season, the Northern Marianas Badminton Association-sanctioned competition kicked off Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium with the 15 teams divided into three pools for the regular season games. The CNMI’s three main islands are represented in the high school league with 10 Rota high school students as well as 10 from Tinian Junior/Senior High School joining their counterparts from Saipan — Marianas High School, Saipan Southern High School, Kagman High School, Saipan International School, Agape Christian School, and Grace Christian Academy.
Bracket 1 has Tinian, MHS 1, GCA 2, Agape 2, and Saipan Southern 2, while SIS 2, Kagman 2, MHS 2, Saipan Southern 1, and Agape 1 make up Bracket 2. Rounding out the competing teams are MHS 3, SIS 1, GCA 1, Dr. Rita Inos, and Kagman 1 of Bracket 3. Teams in each bracket will play in a round-robin regular season and the top finisher in each pool will advance to the playoffs, which will also have a round-robin format to determine the division champion.
“The NMBA, through the continued support of the CNMI Public School System leadership and the PSS Athletic Department, is so proud to have a record field for the high school division of the 2023-2024 PSS-TakeCare Interscholastic Badminton League. What a way to start the 2024 badminton season,” NMBA President Merlie Tolentino said.
“These numbers just proved the growing interest in the sport of badminton among our young population, particularly among our student-athletes. Three years ago, during our inaugural season we only had six teams and most of the players had little to no knowledge of how the game is played. Now, not only did our numbers grow, the level of play has also significantly improved,” Tolentino added.
In the inaugural season, SIS won the division championship, beating Agape, while MHS reigned supreme in the second season, as it also prevailed over Agape in the finale. The third season is an open race with MHS, SIS, and Southern beefing up their rosters with players in the NMI Junior National Team Pool, and Agape bringing up the core of its squads that had back-to-back finals appearances.
PSS Athletic Department director Nick Gross addressed the participating teams during the brief opening ceremony last weekend. He is pleased to have both Tinian and Rota students in the competition, as the interscholastic program aims to provide opportunities to all students across the three islands.
Rota’s high school students had their debut in the league against Kagman before playing their second match of the day against MHS 3, while Tinian dueled GCA 2 in the afternoon game. Complete results of last Saturday’s matches will be reported this week.
