Latest news with #KolbyKickingWoman
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Oneida Nation takes part in NFL Draft week
Kolby KickingWoman ICT Amidst the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League playoffs and the first month of Major League Baseball, one of the biggest days on the National Football League calendar has arrived: Day One of the NFL Draft. Since 2015, the league has taken the three-day event on the road, after traditionally being held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. . A popular event among fans, more than 700,000 people attended over the three days in Detroit, Michigan, last year alone. The previous attendance record was in Nashville, Tenn., where 600,000 fans flocked to the Music City's downtown scene in 2019. This year, Green Bay and the historic Lambeau Field are playing host to the festivities. Just west of the Green Bay metropolitan area lies the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin Reservation. In kicking off NFL Draft week, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers took part in a tree planting event with tribal citizens in Oneida and the tribe has partnered with the team and city for other events over the course of the week. The tribe has long had a relationship with the Green Bay Packers, with the tribe having signage at Lambeau Field, including the 'Oneida Nation Gate' entrance to the Lambeau Field Atrium. Sign up for . On April 24, through the NFL's social justice initiative Inspire Change, a $150,000 grant was awarded to Oneida schools to address the digital divide needs of children of the Oneida Nation. Additionally, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love announced in a video shared on social media that the Oneida Nation Lady Thunderhawks, the nation's flag football team, will receive passes to the draft and the team will announce an official pick on stage during Day Three of the draft. 'Hosting the draft is a huge moment for Green Bay and you guys are a part of this future' Love says in the video. 'Your leadership and sportsmanship make a huge difference for your team and in the community. So congrats and have a blast at Lambeau.' View the to see embedded media. Last season, Packers tight end Tucker Kraft showed support for another tribal nation while he played. Kraft, an honorary citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, sports a sticker of the tribal flag on the back of his helmet. During weeks 13 and 14 of the season last year, Kraft also wore specialized custom cleats to bring awareness to the Cheyenne River Youth Project. 'My Cause My Cleats' is an NFL initiative that gives players the opportunity to use their platform to highlight causes important to them. Day One of the NFL Draft, which is for the first round only, starts at 8 p.m. ET on April 24 on ABC and ESPN. Day Two, which includes rounds two and three, begins at 7 p.m. ET April 25. The final day starts at 12 p.m. ET Saturday, April 26. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Let the madness begin
Kolby KickingWoman ICT Bust out your boogie shoes because The Big Dance is finally here. More colloquially known as March Madness, the NCAA Tournament features 68 teams from across the nation, lacing up their sneakers all with the dream of outlasting the field and winning the championship. The mantra is simple – survive and advance. Each team is six wins away from being immortalized in college basketball history. On the men's side, three players and one coach will be representing their respective tribes along with their schools, according to Jason Amador, Navajo and Mohave, is a senior guard for 13-seed Grand Canyon University; Lance Waddles, Standing Rock Sioux, is a junior guard for the 15-seed Omaha Mavericks; and Dayton Forsythe, Chickasaw Nation, is a freshman guard for 9-seed University of Oklahoma. On the sidelines, University of Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson, Lumbee, led his Cougars squad to Big 12 regular season and conference championships this year and the team's third consecutive season as a 1-seed in the the four, Sampson has the best opportunity to make the Final Four but this humble writer and sports enthusiast has them losing to the Duke Blue Devils in the semifinals the first weekend of April. As sports fans, these are among the best of the year. This first weekend, with games running essentially all day, is purely bliss. A survey of 3,000 fans from the Action Network found that 40 percent admitted to calling in sick to watch games on the first Thursday and Friday of the tournament. Additionally, the survey found 'March Madness could cost the U.S. economy approximately $20.89 billion in lost productivity.' Talk about a serious case of basketball fever. Admittedly, I am prone to keep an eye on my bracket throughout the day, sorry boss! There's still time to fill out your bracket, Just make sure you get that bracket turned in before the first game tips off at 12:15 p.m. ET Thursday. Here's a little nugget for you – only once has all four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four; that was in 2008. Ironically, that Final Four was held in San Antonio, the locale for this year. Upon filling out my initial bracket, I had this occur and it gave me pause. However, the four No. 1 seeds have been among the best in the country all year. Naturally, if I stick to the course, none will make it and my bracket will likely be busted before the end of the weekend. But that's the awesomeness of March Madness. Unexpected turns and surprises are bound to happen. Plus, it's fun to get behind and root for a Cinderella. For what it's worth, I have Duke beating Florida in the National Championship 77-71. So here's to buzzer beaters, broken brackets and Cinderellas. Let the craziness of March Madness begin. Like this story? Support our work with a $5 or $10 contribution today. Contribute to the nonprofit ICT. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Indigenous Hall of Fame expands
Kolby KickingWoman ICT The North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame continues to grow at an amazing rate after its inception four years ago. Thus far each new class of inductees has averaged well above 100 individuals, including entire teams such as the 1899 Carlisle Indian Industrial School football team. Co-founder of the Hall of Fame, Dan Ninham, Oneida, said he is making up for lost time and there are many outstanding Indigenous athletes deserving of the honor. 'It's just amazing that there's so many elite Indigenous athletes out there, in our North America, the majority of them are in the states and then Canada,' said Ninham, whose wife Susan is also a co-founder. 'We're looking for more and they're out there. We just got to find them.' These athletes, ranging across sports, are recognized for their impacts and accomplishments in their respective fields. What makes this Hall of Fame unique is that it is entirely made up of Indigenous athletes. Ninham hopes it can be a tool used in education and hopes students use it as a resource. 'We encourage people in the education realm to have students do some homework by looking at their bios and that's really significant as well,' Ninham said. Eventually, Ninham hopes to create a curriculum that can be shared with schools that will be able to be accessed on the website. Jaci McCormack, Nez Perce, was one individual bestowed with the honor. She said she was very humbled when she got the news and that it was a representation of the environment she grew up in. 'I grew up in a basketball family. So to me, it just represents, you know, all the sacrifices and the hard work like my dad and his grandfather put forward to create a basketball family,' she said. McCormack played all sports growing up but fell in love with basketball at an early age. She recalled a story of seeing someone dribble a basketball between their legs and from there, she was hooked. 'It was in those moments where I just knew I loved the game because I was totally intrigued by the move. I didn't know what happened. Like, 'How did he do that? What do I need to do to learn this move?,'' McCormack said. 'So I've just always found things in the game that have kept me going, that just the love for the game was true and is authentic, and it just, it really brought me joy in my life.' While she went on to play college basketball at Illinois State and competed in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, she fondly remembers the one-on-one battles with her sister, trying to play in the women's league with her mom and workouts with her dad. These days, McCormack works as CEO of Rise Above in Seattle. It is a non-profit she co-founded 10 years ago that gives Native youth the skills and resilience to overcome their circumstances and write their own futures. Growing up, she said she didn't have someone to emulate as she was striving to become a Division-I basketball player and even as an 18-year-old entering college, knew she wanted to eventually give back. 'We're using basketball as a modality to educate and empower kids, but it's all through basketball camps, or health and wellness camps, football camps; we don't really care about the sport. Basketball is just a primary driver of that,' McCormack said. 'Really using sports as a modality to have representation, have safe spaces for kids, but really working upstream from some of our problems that we're facing, especially as Natives.' For young athletes looking to continue their careers at the collegiate level, she says you have to love the game, whatever sport it may be. 'If it doesn't bring you happiness, you know you have to truly find something that does and don't do things for other people, do things that are satisfying for yourself and that bring yourself joy,' McCormack said. 'Because if you don't love it, it's a hard road.' As she continues to work with Native youth, she often shares a quote with them from the late basketball legend, Kobe Bryant. ''It's okay to be unapologetically great,'' McCormack shared. 'I think our kids need to hear that, because sometimes we do dim our own light because we're afraid to be great and that's what I would tell kids, that it's okay to be unapologetically great at whatever you do.' A banquet honoring and recognizing the 2025 inductee class will take place in June in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This year's inductees, as well as all to have received the honor in years past can be found on at the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame website. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
