Gabriel White of BANMI referees federation disclosed that the leaders of Settsu Red Impulse Group of Osaka who brought squads of high school basketball players to Saipan last year have told them more teams are interested to come for the next friendship hoops.
The Settsu Red Impulse Group with young cagebelles in the U14 teams and boys in the U16 played with Saipan counterparts at the Marianas High School Gym in March last year.
The event was filmed and coordinators, Mr. and Mrs. Sakagushi brought the video with them back home.
White said that after the event, the Japanese coordinators and the young athletes loved the games, the time they spent and all the people they met on Saipan, so much that they looked forward to come back.
Now that it’s two months away to mark the first year anniversary of the successful event, White said he was told the Settsu-Saipan Friendship game next month will be much bigger.
White said the girls who played last year will be coming back, along with the new squads, most likely, with male players this time.
