AS the countdown continues for the 2022 Pacific Mini Games, the Northern Marianas National Paddle Sports Federation has been conducting athlete assessment sessions in the selection of the 14 men and 14 women who will comprise the CNMI’s National Va’a Teams.
In the past few weeks, four athlete assessment sessions for men and women have been held, federation president Justin Andrew said.
“The process now is not really a tryout, but more of an athlete assessment as we look at three core items: level of knowledge and technique, coachability and commitment, and conditioning and strength,” Andrew said.
He added that each athlete assessment session consists of team paddling and individual paddling in the open waters along with basic physical tests such as running, push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups, all recorded, timed, counted and assessed.
Andrew said they are looking for athletes who are team players, committed, good listeners, coachable, have a good knowledge/understanding of paddling techniques, and are in good physical condition.
The latest assessment was held Saturday, Andrew said. “So far we have had a great turnout. Close to 20 men and 20 women participated — this is basically the entire active paddling community of the CNMI.”
He noted that the sports of outrigger paddling “has not been around in the CNMI for that long. The athletes who came out have varying degrees of paddling experience/knowledge with varying levels of physical fitness. This makes the coaching work more challenging and interesting.”
Andrew looks forward to working with the best paddlers who can represent the CNMI while he puts together a paddling program that the federation can use in the future.
He said they will conduct two more athlete assessment sessions and will try to form the national teams a month or two before the holidays.
In its next two assessments, he said the federation could transition into a more focused tryout phase during which time trials will be held and an elevated physical fitness assessment phase will narrow down the list of possible athletes for the national teams.
“There aren’t that many of us paddlers here in the CNMI and so we try to give every athlete a chance to make the team by diligently assessing them during the assessment phase and the time trials,” Andrew said. “I hope to get the teams in place soon so we can start training.”
The participants in the CNMI men’s national team athlete assessment session make their way out to the open waters on Saturday at Kilili Beach.
