Micronesia - BANMI wants leagues to open doors to all players

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Basketball Association of Northern Marianas Islands president Elias Rangamar will be contacting league organizers to discourage them from barring players from joining their tournament on the basis of national origin.

The United Filipino Organizations caging in the past years allowed only players with Filipino descent to participate in its league. In 2006, the league allowed teams to recruit non-Filipino players, but limit squads to get only two.

To stop this practice of “discrimination”, Rangamar said BANMI will ask various leagues to be part of the association.

“I will be sending formal letters to these organizations again asking for their inclusion into the BANMI organization,” said Rangamar, who pointed out that BANMI will not take over the affairs of the league once it became part of the organization.

“I believe some of these organizers think that BANMI will be taking over their league. We will not. BANMI has no say in how their leagues are run, financially or competition-wise. Our only concern is that when they become part of BANMI, they will stop excluding players from playing in their league because of ethnicity,” Rangamar said.

Rangamar added he understands UFO league wants to emulate the Philippine Basketball Association, which in the late 90s and in the early 2000 was flooded with foreign-bred players, depriving locally-honed talents the chance to play in the first professional league in Asia.

Variety contacted UFO league coordinator Leo Canedo yesterday to comment on BANMI’s plan, but he has yet to return this reporter’s call at press time.

UFO is mulling on holding a league this year, after failing to hold competitions last season.

Former SIP (Samahang Ilokano at Pangasinense) caging organizer Boy Garcia said that the Friends of Marianas, Inc. will be holding a tournament starting next month and it is open to all interested players.

“BANMI will not accept members with this (discrimination) practice. Several members of the Junior Nationals are of Filipino and Korean descent and are all worthy of their selection into the squad. I wouldn’t want any kid deprived of making it to the national squad because of ethnicity,” Rangamar said.

Jericho Cruz, the main skipper of the NMI Junior Nationals, is of Filipino descent, while Steve Tenorio and Won Joo Jung have Korean blood.

Rangamar discussed the plan of encouraging leagues to join BANMI and asked them to stop the “discrimination practice” during the association’s first meeting of the season early this month.

At the meeting, BANMI officials agreed that to persuade leagues to join the organization referee fees will be higher for non-BANMI sanctioned leagues and member referees will be penalize for officiating these leagues.

BANMI secretary general Michael White noted that leagues which discriminate players should be barred from using government facilities, such as the Gilbert C. Ada Gym.