by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
The Leech Lake Tribal College Lakers, Cass Lake, MN, and Oak Hills Christian College, Bemidji, will be hosting the Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC) Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments on February 21-22, 2020. The Lakers are one of ten members in the NIAC. The conference includes teams from Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Manitoba, Canada.
One of the leaders of the men’s team is Arnold Scott Kingbird. He is a 5’11, sophomore basketball player for Lakers. He is an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, His mom is Diane Kingbird from Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and dad is Eugene Standingcloud from the Red Lake Nation. He lives in Cass Lake, MN on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation. His Indian name is Animikii Benesi and it means “Thunderbird”.
“I do my best to live by the Seven Grandfather Teachings every day so that I can become a better friend, brother, and teammate on and off the court,” said Arnold. “I set the best example I can by working hard so that my teammates and/or any other person in the gym can feed off my energy and work just as hard.”
“My coach Brady Fairbanks is someone I look up to not only for basketball advice but he was a Cass Lake-Bena HS Panther great that I always wanted to be just as good as,” said Arnold. “Our player/coach relationship got pretty close these last couple of years. Always heard great basketball stories of Brady. I remember watching him play 13 years ago in the state championship for CLB. I watched a few of his games as a freshmen starter for Bemidji State University. Great player, and a great coach.”
“What I’ve learned from Brady these last two years are things that I wish I learned before I got into high school. He always talks about preparation, taking care of our bodies, and the will to win. When the opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare. I’m really thankful for the opportunity I got to play under Brady Fairbanks,” added Arnold.
“Arnold came to play for me last year out of high school and went straight to work,” said head coach Brady Fairbanks, Leech Lake Tribal College. “You knew he was a great leader coming into his freshman year. He has really established himself as our leader of our team this year. He’s always had a great work ethic, but what separates him is his attention to detail on improving every day. And it has shown on a number of occasions of scoring outbursts. He’s very respectful and a great student and always on the honor roll. I’m very happy that Arnold came to play at Leech Lake and he has made a difference here for the culture.”
“Another person that has positively influenced my game is Martin Wind,” said Arnold. “He was my basketball coach since 8th grade and my junior varsity coach all through high school. He is my favorite player from CLB. I always wanted to be just as good if not better. He went to state four times and it was always a goal to reach the state tournament.”
“When I was younger, 8th grade, freshman years we worked out a few times and Martin taught me a lot. Did lots of shooting drills because if you knew Mart, you know he’s the leader in points scored for CLB. Always had to get some shots up at least after lifting some weights no matter the court. He had a big part of being the type of player I am today,” added Arnold.
“I am respectful and humble and I know how hard work can get you from being average to being the best,” said Arnold. “I know if you talk with Brady and Martin they will have some good things to say about my game.”
Arnold scored 1,420 points in high school, and has been honored as being involved with the National Honor Society, and awarded the LLTC Scholar Award (2019), and being NIAC All-Conference (2019).
Arnold talked about what others need to do to be ready to succeed in school: “In order to be successful, it won’t come easy. No matter the sport you play, if you work hard, give it your all, and never give up, anything is possible. This is especially true to other Native American athletes who grow up on reservations. Not a lot of us make it out and the ones that do, are the ones we should aspire to be like. What you put in the game, that’s what you’ll get out of it. Work hard and never give up.”Photo Credit: Eugene StandingCloud CrookedarrowPhotography
