Photo courtesy OF James Rideout
PUYALLUP TRIBE’S SUMMER YOUTH BASKETBALL TEAM IN ACTION AT A BASKETBALL CLINIC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.
Tribal teens will be able to dribble, shoot and dunk their way through the summer.
As part of an initiative which has brought the Tribal Council, community, Youth Center and Chief Leschi Schools (CLS) working together to concentrate their efforts on youth needs, a summer basketball program will be in full force this summer to keep teens ages 14 to 18 off the street and involved in something healthy.
The idea came out of a talking circle at CLS between students, head boys basketball coach Eric Smith, Tribal member James Rideout and Councilmember David Bean.
“We were talking about things that needed to be in our schools – what would be beneficial to create a successful graduating (class),” James Rideout said. “Sports came up as the number one topic that motivated students to stay in school.”
Last year, some summer basketball clinics and tournaments were open to student athletes at Chief Leschi. This summer, more programming and more options are open to everyone in the local Tribal community looking for something to do while out of school, or as a way to improve their skills.
All summer long, youth will be participating in practice throughout the week, tournaments each Wednesday, an intertribal league and several basketball clinics throughout the state and even the nation.
University of Washing-ton, Evergreen State Col-lege, Oregon State Univer-
sity and the Native Ameri-can Basketball Invitation-
al in Phoenix are all on the list for stops for the Puyallup youth basketball team this summer.
Organizers see this as a way to not only keep students busy and positive, but also as a way to condition them into better athletes, and expose them to educational options after high school.
Eric Smith, head coach at CLS, worked with youth over the summer last year, and is looking forward to coaching the jam-packed summer ahead. So far there are about 20 team members from CLS and the surrounding community, and he is hoping even more will choose to participate.
“It gives them something to do, keeps them out of trouble and also builds up their skills,” said Eric Smith, who noted that intense participation all summer long will give his team that competitive edge in the next regular school season.
“We’re going to play as much as possible,” he affirmed.
The Puyallup Tribal Council has supported the Puyallup youth team through financial sponsorship as well as advocacy.
Volunteer organizer James Rideout and Eric Smith thanked the council for their support, and hope that the development of this team is only the start of extra-curricular sports leagues that could be housed in the Tribe’s new youth and community center to open later this year.
“We’re preparing everything for this new facility so this (sports program) can be put into motion before the building opens,” James Rideout said. “Then we can move into developing more sports.”
If interested in par-ticipating in the Puyallup Tribe’s summer youth basketball league, contact James Rideout at (253) 221-3742 or Eric Smith at (360) 350-2531.
