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President, Northern Mariana Islands Football Association：Jerry Tan
Greetings from the Northern Mariana Islands,

As the EAFF’s youngest member, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA) is committed to nurturing the growing football movement in our islands. Established in 2005, the NMIFA has steadily grown in numbers and has maintained a core organization made up of faithful and loyal members and players.
We are proud that our adult and children’s leagues have been invited to play alongside other EAFF members throughout the region, and this has only added to the excitement of this, our favorite sport.

I wish to thank the EAFF members and organizations for their valuable assistance in improving the level of football in the CNMI by sending knowledgeable and talented people to guide and assist us as we develop the sport in the islands.
The past year has seen numerous coaching seminars, player workshops, and organizational functions which have further enhanced our abilities to compete.

The NMIFA is still in its infancy, but our players are quickly emerging as credible challengers for the future.

We look forward to welcoming more members of the EAFF to join us on the beautiful island of Saipan in the very near future!

The Northern Mariana Islands, which are composed of 14 islands such as Saipan, Rota Island and Tinian is within the commonwealth of the USA. The most popular sport is baseball and the history of soccer is still young. The Northern Mariana Islands Football Association was established in 2005. 2 years after that the national team was established and they became a semi-member nation of the East Asian Football Federation. They are also currently applying to join the Asian Football Confederation. The president of the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, Jerry Tan says “We will make soccer as popular as baseball in 3 years and in the future the number 1 sport in Saipan”. In fact, children’s interest in football has rocketed in the past two years. The basis for training more soccer players such as a league and cup competition is set and 6 men’s teams and 4 women’s teams already compete in them. There are still problems such as soccer pitch conditions and not having enough coaches and referees but taking a long term view these will develop in the future.

As of August 2008