http://www.layups.com/top-nurtition-tips-for-kids-playing-basketball/
“You’re just a product of your environment”
I grew up in South Minneapolis and it was pretty chaotic at times. There was a lot of violence in the neighborhoods. I grew up with the Vice Lords, a gang in Minneapolis in the late 80’s and early 90’s. My sister had boyfriends that were in the gang and I pretty much grew up around the gang lifestyle. I looked up to them, not knowing any better. Back then, the gangs were just who you hung out with and who you associated with as you get older. I hung out with the same guys on the streets and on the court playing ball and people would start to get more formalized. We had a really tight knit group. I never got into the full fledged gang, but there were some times where I’d have a bandana on and do weird things with my fingers, just to try to fit in. The gangs catch you at a young age and really try to hook you in.
When you’re at that age that you’re so influential. You become a product of your environment. Until you get to a place where you want to be, you have to adapt to where you live. At some point, you get to a fork in the road where you can either ride by yourself or join this group of guys that are offering protection. You know, from the moment you’re five, you’re wearing red, and that’s just where the path leads. I’ve seen that over and over.
Even kids that were in my program when I was doing Golden Eagles have been killed out on these streets. I remember a time when I was working with Golden Eagles, a young 12 year old girl was found overdosed down the block. The people she was with were too scared to do anything about it and dumped her off at the boulevard two blocks from her home. Living in situations like that, how can you not help?
Golden Eagles Logo
https://www.givemn.org/organization/Minneapolis-American-Indian-Center
“I wasn’t afraid to be bold”
So, that’s why I started volunteering with the Golden Eagles. It started with volunteering and led to part-time employment opportunities and snowballed into a career with youth and sports. I came back to Golden Eagle around 2009 ‘cause I was working at The Boys and Girls Club at the time. I noticed there was an absence of athletics and leadership and it pretty much started from there. We just showed up one day and started playing basketball at empty times. I wasn’t afraid to be bold because if you believe in something and it is a good cause, stand by it and ride it all the way out. The way that the kids would react to how I facilitated the program was really fun and was something I could see myself doing for a long time. I’m also pretty passionate about sports and the native community and I felt like there was no one better to step up and do it than me. If no one else is doing it, well shit someone’s got to do it. I was familiar with the building, the community, and my entire life has been dedicated to this community. Not just in this program, but also working as a case manager next door as well as working with homeless native youth. I feel proud and honored to help these people.
“A lot of great stuff happens in the gym”
When I first started at Golden Eagles, there was a lot of skepticism about basketball. It takes so much time and effort, but to see the work the kids put in and how successful they can be teaches you that kids will make mistakes. They are still human and can understand feelings. We need to focus on building them up more and acknowledge their success. They are like sponges just waiting to learn and that is enough to keep me going. It’s fun when I get to see a positive reaction from the kids. I don’t always want to think that things are all great and happy because you never know what people are going through or what they’re dealing with. I try to treat everyone with respect, even if they’re a not in the best attitude. We are in this particular community and there isn’t a lot of great things happening, but a lot of great stuff happens in the gym and I am honored to be in a position to offer that to people. When the community comes together it just feels really special to me. Whether it’s playing ball in the gym or setting up tables for a veterans dinner, just to be associated with the good part of the community is the biggest draw into it for me.
Through it all, I guess my expectation would be for someone to continue what I started and sustain my goal of getting kids active. I’d like to see a decline in childhood obesity and a decline in heart disease. You see disparities in weight across the country, and the problems are always worse in the native communities. I want to see more people playing flag-football, soccer and going to the gym instead of people being on computers, phones and Xboxes. Nowadays, there are so many options given to kids to sit in front of the computer and I just hope that someone after me can continue what I started. I feel like it’s working so far and over time we will see a difference. The kids seem to like it and progress is being made. I can tell by watching them play and I hope to keep it going as long as we are sustaining our goal to keep kids active.
“I’m very thankful for the Golden Eagle program”
I love how your interviewee has set up goals and things that he wants to see happen as he works as a gym teacher, such as seeing obesity and heart disease rates drop. It shows that they're committed to what they do.
ReplyDeleteThis blog makes for a very engaging narrative. Learning how rough their background was but how they came out of it and evolved for the better was really cool to read and makes the impact of the Golden Eagles more powerful and inspiring.
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