by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Aleta Moss is an enrolled Northern Arapaho. She was born, raised and lives on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Ethete, Wyoming. She is a coach at Wyoming Indian High School. Coach Aleta graduated from Wyoming Indian School, Central Wyoming College where she played JUCO basketball and received her Bachelors degree from the University of Wyoming.
“I coach high school basketball as well as middle school volleyball and high school track,” said Aleta. “This will be my 31st year at Wyoming Indian High School where I teach high school health and physical education. I was selected last fall as a finalist for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Girls Basketball “Coach of the Year” award. An award presentation will be made in July 2020 in NE to one of the top 8 coaches in the U.S. who were also finalists. I recently won the 600th game of my coaching career after winning the Regional Championship last weekend. It was our 4th year in a year winning the Regional title.”
“Our school mission statement is; “It is the mission of Wyoming Indian Schools to empower all students to learn at high levels to become successful in a dynamic world, while strengthening their culture identities and traditions”, said Aleta. “As a coach, I use this philosophy to empower my girls to be strong, proud and successful Native women. Many of my athletes have played college basketball. I currently have three former players this year who have finished their seasons or are in post-tournament play. Many former players have college degrees in Teaching, Engineering, Medicine and Business Administration. They are all successful women in our Tribal community.”
“This season has been a pretty consistent year for us,” said Aleta. “Of course, our lows were losing three games each by a total of three points each. Those games were good learning experiences for us. Our high was winning a mid-season tournament which included larger 3A/4A schools and we went 4-0 and beat a 3A school in the championship game. It was our third time winning that tournament in the past 4 years.”
“In order to win another State tournament, we need to focus on our strengths which is our fast paced, aggressive style of defense that forces a faster pace with quick scoring, passes, steals and trapping in our press,” said Aleta. “We also need to improve on our weaknesses which is rebounding since we don’t have a tall team.”
“The positive influences in my life have been my parents,” said Aleta. “Both parents stressed academics and participation in all school athletics and were strong supporters in our family of runners and basketball players. They both were strong advocates of learning our Arapaho language. They both retired as teachers in our school system as Arapaho language instructors. My father was a well known linguist who co-published several books on the Arapaho language. He taught language classes for Central Wyoming College, University of Wyoming and the University of Colorado in Boulder. He also received the ‘Indian of the Year’ for his language preservation efforts. This award is given in Oklahoma each year. Both parents are now deceased.”
“A coach that I have looked up to is a legendary coach Alfred Redman, Sr. He is my uncle who coached the boys teams for many years. We named our high school gym after him this past year. He works as the Tribal Education Director,” added Aleta.
“I am very proud to have been a part of their lives and encourage all my players to be role models for the younger generation,” said Aleta.
Photo Credit: Randy Tucker
