NMI U15 Badminton Team off to New Zealand

The NMI U15 National Badminton Team is headed to New Zealand to compete in the Pacific Under 15 Team Invitation Challenge that will be held at the North Harbour Badminton Centre in Auckland from Feb. 10 to 12.

The team, which was scheduled to leave Saipan on Feb. 5, consists of Evan Seguritan, Benjamin Cai, Thaddaeus Tolentino, Breanna Lopez, Danielle Joson, and Keala Takeda. Pacific Games medalist Janelle Pangilinan will be the girls crew’s coach and team manager, while national player Nate Guerrero will call the shots for the boys side.  The group has been training since mid-last year for this competition, which will also feature the U15 national teams of New Caledonia, Cook Islands, Wallis & Futuna, and Guam.

“Our players have shown significant improvement since they first join Northern Marianas Badminton Association’s Junior National Training Program. Now, it’s time for them to showcase what we’ve been working hard the past few months and experience competing outside the NMI. This tournament is great opportunity for them to continue their skills development and gauge the competitive level outside our islands,” Guerrero said.

The young NMI players are products of the NMBA and the CNMI Public School System’s interscholastic program that has seen an increase in participation since its inception in 2021. Seguritan goes to Tanapag Middle School, Tolentino is from Dandan MS, while Cai is from Agape Christian School. Lopez and Takeda are both from Grace Christian Academy, while Joson is from Hopwood Middle School.

“With more and more students joining the interscholastic program, we are able to grow our pool of talents and continue to train them for competitions, not just locally, but also in regional and international events. We also competed in the Pacific Under 15 Team Invitation Challenge in 2023 in New Zealand and U17 edition of the event in  Australia last year, and the BWF World Junior Championships 2024 in Nanchang, China,” NMBA President Merlie Tolentino said.

She thanked PSS for the continued support to the program and the players’ parents, Badminton Oceania, and Northern Marianas Sports Association for the assistance that allowed the NMBA to send a full team to New Zealand.

“Through our collective efforts, we our able to provide more opportunities for our young players. We wish the team good luck and we’re confident that they will produce positive results from this event,” Tolentino said.

Before the competition, the team will participate in a training camp from Feb. 7 to 9 at the Active Badminton Centre, which is also in Auckland. They will train with other teams and under Badminton Oceania’s Coaching and Development Manager Robbie Thackham.

“We will take whatever we can learn from both the training camp and the tournament and use this experience to continue to develop ours skills as we look forward for more competitions and opportunities in the future, and build relationships with other players from our region,” Seguritan said.

Seguritan and his teammates will play their first game on Feb. 10 against Wallis & Futuna before taking on Cook Islands and New Caledonia on Feb. 11. The NMI bets will then meet their neighbors from Guam on the last day of the competition on Feb. 12.