by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Bethany Baldwin is leaving her mark at each of her basketball stops since high school.
Bethany left her mark at Watersmeet Township High School, Michigan as one of the top basketball players in the state. She was a 2000-point scorer for the Nimrods.
“I was born and raised in Watersmeet, Michigan. I am tied at number two in the state of Michigan for most points in a game at 63. After I graduated high school in 2018, I started my freshman year at Hibbing Community College in Hibbing, MN and transferred this past school year to Triton College located in River Grove, IL. I was the leading scorer on both teams. Last year I averaged 20.9 and this year I averaged 17.8 points per game.”
Although living in the community of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe during her high school years, Bethany Baldwin is an enrolled member of the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe located in Crandon WI. She is also Pima, Chippewa, and Irish. Bethany belongs to the Bear Clan.
Bethany left her mark her freshman year leading her and her teammates at Hibbing Community College (HCC) Cardinals to a fifth place finish at the NJCAA National Championship. HCC were co-champions with Northland Community & Technical College in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference. The team record was 29-3.
“My freshman year I was one of the top three-point shooters in the nation,” said Bethany.
As a juco transfer and sophomore, Bethany has now left her mark at NJCAA Triton College. The Trojans had a 22-10 record and 11-3 in the North Central Conference.
“I scored my 1000th point this year in my juco career, made it to the national tournament, got Conference Player of the Year, named NJCAA All Region IV and was named First Team All Conference both freshman and sophomore year,” said Bethany.
Bethany was one of the leaders this past season in NJCAA Region IV and the nation in rebounds, assists, steals, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, and scoring.
The core tribal values are significant to indigenous people. “Being a Native American is a big part of who I am,” said Bethany. “I’m very proud to be able to set an example for the youth and hopefully inspire people around me. Respect is the biggest core value I have as an individual. Respect can be demonstrated through other ways such as listening, cooperating, honoring elders and having respect for all living things. It plays a major role on and off the court.”
“To love and support one another is something else that is important to me,” said Bethany. “Without love in this world we all would be nowhere. There would be no reason but with love you can always find a reason. A reason to stay, a reason to go, a reason to work harder, and a reason to make your people proud. Support is one thing that helps a person grow and push toward being more successful. Coming from a small town I would say the support from everybody around me was one of my biggest influences.”
“Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have always positively influenced me,” said Bethany. “Each taught me to always only compete with yourself and never try to be better than the other. Kobe influenced me by being in the gym for hours and always being the last one out of the gym. In high school I was always sure to take the last shot and even now I am the last out of the gym. MJ’s story about not making the team but ending up as one of the greatest of all time was a story that always stuck with me. Like my mom always says to me, anything is possible as long as you set your mind to it.”
The holistic model includes physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health. A balance needs to be evident in high performing student-athletes at all levels. “Physically I work out and train both with my team and individually year round,” said Bethany. “Since graduating high school my knowledge for the game has been continuously growing. When it comes to the mental aspect of the game I have greatly improved and came a long way as an athlete. My mental reactions and decision-making are both going only to the top from here.”
“Before games I will clear my mind by only focusing on my goal for the game when I am stretching. I remind myself to stay positive, encouraging, and supportive at all times during the game. When I make a mistake I will say ‘40 minutes’ in my head so I know that I only have this game to give my all and it doesn’t matter if I mess up because I am going to keep moving forward. In big games I try not to get overwhelmed because that causes panic. I go into game-mode with winning as the only thing on my mind. I play my hardest and leave everything on the court so that no matter what the outcome is I know that I did what I could,” added Bethany.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a life changer and affects everyone in the world. “My family and I have just been hanging out, watching movies, and telling stories,” said Bethany. “My brother has a mini-hoop so you know I’m making them work on that when I play them! My one-year old niece Journey keeps us all pretty entertained. Some days when it’s nice my brothers and I will go outside and play on the hoop but most of the time we are all doing our own stuff. The only good part about this pandemic is that we are all going through it together. My family has always been pretty close so even though we do get on each others nerves some days the other days it is just hanging out with my best friends.”
Bethany Baldwin is currently unsigned for next season and is looking forward to where her next stop is going to be. She will definitely leave her mark there too.
Bethany Baldwin’s final statistics at Hibbing Community College are located here: https://www.mcacsports.org/sports/wbkb/2018-19/players/bethanybaldwin5n9i
Bethany Baldwin’s Triton College profile including season statistics is located here: https://tritonathletics.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/bethany-baldwin/514
Photo Credit: James Smith/Triton College Athletics
Bethany spends her off-time practicing with her hometown (Watersmeet Nimrods) basketball athletes. She is a shining example to all of them, including my grandson.