Micronesian Games silver medalist, Ray Lizama said he is not alone in an effort to organize the Masters Basketball Federation of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The veteran cager is now coaching a team in the ongoing IT&E Inter-government & Business Basketball League said basketball players, Bruce Berline, Yul Gabaldon and Rey Alvarez have been discussing with him about giving players 35 and up, “something to look forward.”
Lizama said they are now in the process of pioneering the committee which will form board that will then elect the founding officers of the federation.
With this, Lizama is urging basketball players who are 35 years old and above to join them.
Along with the creation of the local Masters’ group, Lizama said they will also start establishing contacts with the World Masters Olympic committee. He said he is quite sure there are many people who will be interested to join the higher age basketball group.
Lizama who was in the NMI basketball commission noted that in the past, Masters basketball was never take seriously so veteran players who fail to qualify in some leagues today ran out of means to continue living an active and healthy life.
Guam he also noted has quads whose members played in this year’s World Masters Olympic held in Sydney, Australia last month.
Lizama believes that if the other Pacific Islands like Guam can bring out players for the World Masters, the NMI can do too.
Now that the prestige of the World Masters Olympic is getting into the grass roots of the world’s basketball community, Lizama believes it’s time for the NMI to take Masters’ basketball more seriously.
