by By Dan Ninham
Dierra Takes Enemy is winding up her freshman year at Hardin HS in Montana. One of the hot beds of athletics in Montana is developing another multi-athlete.
Dierra is a 5-8 shooting guard on the basketball team and is also on the cross country and track teams.
During cross country last season, Dierra was the only freshman to be named to the Class A All State Team. “I helped lead my team to the third place trophy,” said Dierra.
The basketball team also took third place at Eastern A Divisionals and third place at the state tournament.
“Leading up to my high school career I also participated in running and basketball at the middle school,” said Dierra. “In running, I took first place two years in a row at our conference meet, leading my team to a first place trophy two years in a row. In seventh and eighth grade basketball I earned an All Star award then a MVP award helping my team to back-to-back first place trophies.”
Cindy Farmer is a multi-coach as her athletes are multi-athletes. She talked about one of her up and coming is now athletes: “Dierra is very dedicated to running and basketball. She has the drive to succeed and is very competitive. As a freshman she was All-state in XC and was on the varsity basketball team which finished third at State. She is very athletic and is just a natural at running and has great court awareness in basketball. She is a great shooter, can drive and finish at the basket and is very versatile. She is very unselfish and will do whatever it takes to make her teammates better. She ran through injuries in XC and in basketball but was determined to be there for her teammates.”
Robert, Sr. and Francis Takes Enemies are the grandparents and primary caregivers of their grandchildren Dierra and eighth grader Victoria.
“Dierra is a natural outstanding athlete and has a competitive drive that makes her do her best in all that she does,” said Dierra’s grandma Francis. “Dierra’s livelihood of daily outdoors routine made her a great athlete that she is today. The beginning of her high school cross country season she fought shin splints and persevered and finished her year as an All-State runner. The beginning of high school basketball season she had an avulsion fracture that would take her out for nearly two months, and taking her to physical therapy twice a week for eight weeks. She still went to practices and maintained her confidence to play her first game as a freshman.”
“Her grandpa Robert Takes Enemy, Sr. has always pushed her to be her best even when she doesn’t like it. He always talks to her about being more than mediocre and telling her she has the skill to make it far in life,” added Francis.
“My grandpa Robert Takes Enemy has been my biggest mentor since I started playing sports,” said Dierra. “Ever since I was little, people would always come up to us and say I’m doing good and can’t wait for the future, and I never understood what they meant ‘can’t wait for my future.’ I always played because the game was fun, not to impress other people.”
“As I got older, Grandpa started talking to me and teaching me more about the game. He told me ‘there’s more to the game than just fundamentals, remember how I always talk to you and teach you about what’s going on.’ He’s always been there for me, pushing me and helping me to be more than mediocre and always saying I can go somewhere. He always pushes me towards my academics as well, making sure my grades are good and I’m not slacking because he always says I’m a student before anything,” added Dierra.
Grandpa Robert Takes Enemy, Sr., 59, was an outstanding high school basketball player. He attended Dull Knife Community College in Lame Deer, MT. Due to several ineligible players the program folded. Robert, Sr. continued his education and received an Associate of Arts degree in Mathematics. He applied to be an apprentice at the Bureau of Reclamation Yellowtail Dam and was eventually offered an electrician position. He has worked there for the past 30 years.
Robert, Sr. played Indian basketball with the Crow Hawks based out of the Crow Reservation. The team included his brothers and relatives and was national class in Indian ball tournaments and placed fifth at the 1982 National Indian Athletic Association tournament in Spokane, WA. “I was hurt in Spokane but I played hurt,” said Robert, Sr. “I was fortunate not to be too injured throughout my years of playing basketball.”
Grandpa trains his granddaughters the way he was trained. Drills include all the fundamentals including a focus on agility. The training also helped with cross country running.
“I talk to Dierra about playing at the best of her ability,” said Robert, Sr. “Play hard all the time. I watched her lose her focus when the team was way ahead of another team. I got that out of her. I told her never to play at your competition’s level.”
“Don’t practice and play to win,” said Grandpa Robert, Sr. “Practice and play hard so you can win. Give it your best and give it your all.”
Photo Credit: Tommy B. Robinson
