Officers and members of Northern Mariana Island Volleyball Association accompanied the U.S. professionals to Ladera International School of Saipan in Finasisu and two other schools where students got the chance to have their volleyballs and T-Shirts signed for an autograph.
The pros according to NMIVA spoke to the children about teamwork, motivation, commitment to sports.
They arrived last Tuesday to participate in the upcoming 17th Annual Marianas Cup Beach Volleyball Festival.
Meanwhile, the Japanese pros arrived yesterday afternoon and the rest of the pros from Korea are expected to arrive today.
The U.S. pros are also expected to go on-air with Harry Blalock today in his morning program to invite children to the Free Kids’ Clinic at Pacific Island Club from 3 p.m., to 5 p.m., where the Japanese and Korean professionals will join in conducting drills and offer advice to the CNMI’s younger athletes.
Tomorrow, the public is invited again for the highly anticipated and thrilling Pro Exhibition Match which starts at 5 p.m. at PIC’s beach volleyball courts.
Following the exhibition will be the Pro-Raffle where amateur teams will be able to purchase raffle tickets at $10 per piece to vie for a Pro as their partner. The Pro-Am format allows regular volleyball enthusiasts to potentially play with a US Gold Olympian. Last year’s lucky winner was KSPN’s own Chris Nelson who was teamed with Phil Dalhausser. However, Triple J Motor’s General Manager, Randy Steele, won the tournament with Pro Paul Baxter.
The actual tournament begins on Saturday morning at 9am at PIC and ends with the Awards Banquet on Sunday night. Interested teams must sign up by Friday at 5pm. Entry forms ($60 per team) for the Marianas Cup is available at PIC’s Front Desk.
