by By Dan Ninham, contributing writer
Cooper Lata’tya•se Smith is Oneida and is going into the tenth grade at Marinette HS in Wisconsin. He is a three-sport varsity athlete in football, wrestling, and baseball. He also competes in baseball for Impact Sports Academy.
Smith is just beginning his high school varsity tenure and earned three varsity letters his freshman year. He also earned All Conference in baseball as a freshman.
Indigenous core values define how indigenous athletes practice and compete. Smith said, “The core values of my people are a Good Mind, a Good Heart, and a Strong Fire. With regard to a Good Mind, I utilize a positive mindset every time I step on the field or mat. I believe that mental toughness has given me this opportunity to compete at such a high level, amongst much older players. I do my best to learn from my mistakes and use them to work on my weaknesses each and every practice.”
“I believe that I exercise a good heart in practice and competition. When my teammates make a mistake I do my best to be the first to console and encourage them. In competition I respect each and every one of my opponents and respect the game of baseball by competing in its purest form. I believe in sportsmanship,” Smith added.
“My ‘Strong Fire’ in practice is how I approach each and every practice as going to work,” said Smith. “Utilizing every minute to improve and be a better player than I was before practice. Now in games, I am extremely competitive and I am driven to make plays, whether I am on the mound or I am calling pitches behind the plate I want to win.
High performing athletes are always preparing to compete at a higher level. “I have been preparing to compete at 19U Baseball,” said Smith. “I have been training for the last year with Impact Sports Academy to improve my pitching, hitting, and fielding. I have also competed in wood bat tournaments around the Midwest to prepare me to face the older competition.”
Positive mentorship is needed to guide athletes down the right path. Coach Erik Cordier is a mentor to Cooper. Smith said, “He is one of my coaches and the instruction he teaches me is flawless. He also encourages me to constantly improve as a player and a person.”
Erik Cordier was not available for comment.
Mike Maedke was Cooper’s high school baseball coach. He was also his eighth grade math teacher.
“Cooper gained attention throughout our high school season from many of our opposing coaches,” said Coach Mike Maedke. “Once they found out he was only a freshman, they were even more impressed. Cooper pitched well enough to earn Honorable Mention All Conference. He was the only freshman from our conference to earn All Conference. The future is very bright for Cooper.”
“Our plan was to ease Cooper into varsity baseball, giving him opportunities to play on the junior varsity team. We soon found out that Cooper was able to hold his own against the competition,” added Coach Maedke.
“I knew that Cooper was going to be a good player after the first game he pitched for us,” said Coach Maedke. “He continued to impress as the season went on.”
Photo Credit: Angie Smith
