The ceremony was opened by a parade of players and their beautiful muses followed by the presentation of the CNMI’s National Anthem, followed by a prayer for the players, followed by opening remarks from the VIP guests of the league. It did not end their, President James Hann presented his opening remarks by welcoming all of the players and telling the crowd that this event marks the beginning of a great league for the players and great entertainment for the community also teaching the community to stay away from drugs.
His mission and goal, as the president of the league, was to bring and introduce the leagues in the CNMI to higher level of basketball. With great honor and appreciation he gave thanks to all of the sponsors, officials, referees, players, coaches, and everyone who made the league a success.
The opening was then honored by the performance of a dancing crew on Saipan named “Project Impact”. They did a series of flips and dance moves. The crowd was then really entertained when a one year old boy joined the dance group in dancing and did a couple of flips on his own. The crown went wild for the little boy and so did the media.
On the spot there were two awards that were given for the opening alone: best in muse and best in uniform. Each category was given one hundred dollars cash prize and a handsome trophy.
The best in muse award was given to Gederryn Domingo of team NTT DOCOMO PACIFIC working together with MOBIL. The best in uniform was then awarded to team Wings Travel.
Each team captain then drew numbers/slots from a bag to see who they were pegged up against and when they were to challenge them on the court.
The first game of the league was played by team IT&E vs. Wings Travel. In the second game of the night, team DOCOMO/Mobil was pegged up against team Atalig Associates.
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