Coldeen, who retired from local station KSPN aged 70 in November, will lead the CNMI delegation at the nine-sport event and is anticipating that Saipan - the largest island in the US commonwealth and location for the Pacific Mini Games - can stage a successful event.

"One of the best things Saipan does is host events because of the people here and the nature of this place," Coldeen told the Saipan Tribune.

"I'm looking forward to make the Mini Games fun not only for our visitors but also for Team NMI. 

"Thank you for making me part of it and I’m very happy to come out of retirement."

Coldeen was a member of the Organising Committees for the 1990 and 2006 Micronesian Games, which Saipan hosted.

Saipan and the CNMI as a whole has never staged the Pacific Mini Games before.

Coldeen is also a former teacher at a high school, public school system programmes coordinator and Peace Corp volunteer.

Twelve sports were initially on the Pacific Mini Games programme, when the event was due to take place in 2021.

The programme was cut in half after Super Typhoon Yutu caused widespread destruction in the CNMI and the Government indicated it wanted to withdraw as host.

The COVID-19 pandemic and postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics led to the Pacific Mini Games being moved to 2022, and this delay helped organisers add tennis, weightlifting and va'a to the programme. 

They joined baseball, badminton, athletics, beach volleyball, triathlon and golf on the programme, with the event scheduled for June 17 to 25 this year.