By James Sablan
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
HOPWOOD Middle School has been blessed with two new goal posts, officially installed Thursday by Hak Chun Bae, owner of SPG Corp, in collaboration with HMS 8th-grade Physical Education teacher Changwhan Jang.
For seven years, students at Hopwood practiced soccer using makeshift PVC pipes and temporary plastic goals. After Super Typhoon Yutu devastated the island in Oct. 2018, the school’s athletic infrastructure was left in ruins, forcing students to make do with what they had.
Thanks to the generosity of Jang’s long-time friend, Hak Chun Bae, the Hopwood soccer field now has professional-grade, custom-welded goalposts. The donation marks a significant milestone in the school’s post-typhoon recovery and is a major boost for its championship-winning soccer program.
The project began when Jang, Hopwood’s well-known P.E. teacher and “Barefoot Runner,” reached out to Bae. He initially hoped to borrow a welding machine to build the goals himself using 5-inch pipes the school had acquired.
“He told me, ‘No, no, no — you cannot make it yourself. It is too heavy and difficult,’” Jang recalled. “He told me to just bring the pipes to his shop and he would handle it.”
Bae did more than just weld. He donated all the necessary heavy-duty materials, including metal elbows, couplings, and nets, and provided five new soccer balls to ensure the teams were fully equipped.
For Bae, the donation was personal. A longtime resident of the islands and a former soccer player, he expressed a deep desire to give back to the youth. “He was very happy to see the students,” Jang said. “He wants them to utilize these goals for their health, their development, and to create good memories at school.”
The logistics were a community effort. Because the 20-foot by 10-foot steel structures were too large for a standard vehicle, the Saipan Mayor’s Office provided a crane truck to transport and set up the massive frames on the Hopwood field.
The timing of the donation couldn’t be better. The Hopwood soccer teams are already strong competitors in the PSS-NMIFA Interscholastic Soccer Leagues and now have regulation-sized equipment to match their talent. Previously, players practiced on goals measuring only 8 feet by 6 feet.
“We have many soccer players who have been playing with plastic goals until now,” Jang explained. “Now, they can practice with the real thing during break time, lunch, and after school. This is for their future.”
Hopwood’s eighth-grade students and soccer players gathered on the field to celebrate the new equipment — a symbol of resilience and the strong bond between Saipan’s local businesses and its schools.
James Sablan has been a sports reporter for Variety since 2013. He was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College and covers all local sports.
