While holding an Adopt-A-Place certificate, Pickleball Federation of the NMI President Nelson Krum, center, poses for a photo with Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho, Triple J General Manager Sean Ficke, and federation members Bart Jackson and Dave Guerrero at the Capital Hill tennis court on Friday.
Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho delivers his remarks.
THE Pickleball Federation of the Northern Mariana Islands officially “adopted” the Capital Hill tennis court on Friday as part of Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho’s Adopt-A-Place program.
In his remarks, the mayor said many sports and other public venues around the island have been neglected.
“This program is about the community working together” to maintain these sites, he added.
“Sports is so important [for] these children that have nothing to do,” Camacho said.
He also emphasized the importance of sports tourism as he noted the recent success of Team Marianas in the 2024 Micronesian Games last month.
With the PFNMI adopting the Capital Hill tennis court, the group can now start the process to resurface the site and transform it into four pickleball courts with the help of Triple J Saipan.
“Boy, it’s been such a long process and a lot of work, but it’s exciting that we’ll be able to roll out pickleball up here,” said PFNMI President Nelson Krum.
The rise of pickleball on the island started four years ago with the first court located in Krum’s dental office parking lot. They also played at American Memorial Park and other locations.
“So then we came back up here, and it was really Sean Ficke and Triple J that made the commitment to let us get going with taking this over, and we met with the Mayor’s Office and Parks & Rec, and everybody said sure,” Krum said.
He also praised the mayor’s Adopt-A-Place program. “It’s just a fantastic program,” Krum said. “We…have a government that doesn’t have any money. But by doing this, he can farm these projects out to people [who] may be able to raise enough money to redo this,” Krum added.
Triple J General Manager Sean Ficke said pickleball “is one of the largest growing sports right now in the world, and it’s great to see the [number] of people that are turning out and playing pickleball here. Dr. Nelson Krum has been an advocate…for over four years now, and I remember playing in his parking lot four years ago and only a few people were playing, and many years have gone by and now he’s really grown it to something really big.”
Ficke added, “We encourage other businesses that want to help sponsor and help promote, not only the pickleball association, but also the mayor’s initiative to adopt-a-site. It’s great right now for our economy.”
