Incoming high school freshmen Ed Cudia and Jeraldine Castillo were chosen by the Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands to take part in the one-week event.
Their trip will be funded by the Organizing Committee of the 2010 FIBA Basketball World Championships for Men.
Joined by Coach Joe Diaz in the trip, Cudia and Castillo will be collaborating with other international representatives in Istanbul to play basketball, watch professional players in action, and do other activities.
Cudia and Castillo are both big fans of basketball. Ed Cudia currently plays with a basketball team on island and hopes to join Marianas High School’s junior varsity team in the beginning of the school year.
Cudia stated, “I’m real excited and honored that I get to go to a different country. It’s a once in a lifetime experience and most importantly, I get to represent the CNMI. I’m looking forward to a lot of things – I get to meet different people, probably meet some basketball players from team USA, like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.”
Armie Cudia, Ed’s mother, said that she was also happy for him, but that she was a little nervous because Turkey is very far from Saipan. She is also excited for him and hopes that he could bring back newly learned skills from the basketball camp, so that he could share them with the other kids in the CNMI.
