by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
In the final game of this season, The University of the Southwest Lady Mustangs lost to the nationally ranked LSU-Alexandria Generals by the score of 93-84 on the road. The Lady Mustangs needed one more win to make the post-season tournament. Harlei Haceesa is a junior on the team and she scored 15 points and had 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Harlei and the Lady Mustangs are looking forward to next season.
The Red River Athletic Conference named Harlei Haceesa to the 2019-2020 All-Conference Honorable Mention Team. The leading scorer on the team also was selected to the All-Champions of Character Team.
Harlei Haceesa is originally from Shiprock, New Mexico. She is full-blooded Diné of the Navajo Nation. She is a member of the Bitterwater Clan on her mother side, Mexican Clan on her father side, and her maternal clan is Salt Clan and paternal clan is Bitterwater Clan.
“My parents never gave me a Navajo name, and my nickname is Sweetie Pie,” said Harlei. “My community calls me ‘Shiprock girl.’ My mother’s name is Willa Haceesa of Shiprock, New Mexico. My father’s name is Harley Haceesa of Nageezi, New Mexico. My late grandfather is William D. Tso of Teecnospos, Arizona. My grandmother is Kerlena Tso of Shiprock. My maternal grandmother is Jessie Valdez of Nageezi. My paternal grandfather is Howard Haceesa Sr., of Nageezi, New Mexico. I have two sisters and three brothers: Amber, Myrian, Alex, Breyden and Breygen. I’m the oldest child. I reside in Aztec, NM today.”
“I graduated from Farmington Navajo Preparatory School in 2017,” said Harlei. “I played for Navajo Prep for four years and was awarded Offensive Player of the Year all four years. I also was awarded the most rebounds award for three years and the Most Valuable Player. The Navajo Times of Window Rock nominated me to play for the New Mexico vs. Arizona team. I also got picked to play in the North vs. South All Star Game in Albuquerque, NM. I received a four-year basketball scholarship to the University of the Southwest and was awarded a Navajo Prep basketball scholarship at the graduation. During the four years I’ve played, I motivated the youngsters to be active in sports and academic.”
“Presently, I am a junior at University of Southwest (USW) of Hobbs, New Mexico and majoring in Biology and Pre-Med,” said Harlei. “I started playing for the USW as a freshman and played forward. During my freshman year, I averaged 2.68 points per game. My sophomore year, I averaged 8.2 points. In my sophomore year I was awarded Athlete of the Year for women by the coach. During junior year I averaged 12.8 points. Throughout my years playing I have averaged better numbers and have gotten better from my coaches. My goal after my four years playing basketball for USW is to reach over 1,000 points.”
“I believe in determination with continuation of healthy lifestyle and wellness,” said Harlei. “After I graduate from University of Southwest, I plan to continue my education at the University of New Mexico in Pre-Med to become a doctor in the emergency room.”
“I compete for my family and most of all myself because I want to make a name for myself,” said Harlei. “I worked hard everyday to get where I am so I can only continue to work harder and compete even harder to keep building for myself and make my family proud. “
“The individuals who influenced me in my life are my late great grandmother, Rose Ann Johnson of Shiprock,” said Harlei. “She passed in 2015, and used to talked to me in the Diné language with a big hug afterwards. The next person is my grandmother, Kerlena Tso. She took care of my siblings and I and enrolled us at Shiprock Associated School.”
Harlei’s grandmother Kerlena Tso said: “Harlei always has been a unique individual who has compassion for basketball since she was a little girl. She strives through hardship to reach that goal. Some day she will come back to Shiprock and help her community as a leader to the boys and girls. She loves to feed the homeless when she comes home for the holidays. She does public speaking to high school students and is a role model for her younger siblings. I do my best to continue to cheer for her on-line or at home games in Hobbs, NM. This is her last year and I’m very proud of my granddaughter, Harlei.”
“I played basketball for one semester before I transferred to Farmington Navajo Preparatory School,” said Harlei. “My coach’s name was Leon Wheeler and that’s when I first experienced going to the State Basketball Tournament in Santa Ana in Bernalillo, New Mexico. He influenced me by learning how to work for what I want and to have determination in what I wanted to do. Mr. Wheeler introduced me into hard work on and off the court because he was also my school teacher.”
“Rainy Crisp, who coached and mentored me all four years at Navajo Prep, also influenced me,” said Harlei. “She pushed me to my limits and never let me settle for less. Through her I learned how to be a leader and always go above and beyond on the court. But mostly off the court because she too was my school teacher.”
“My parents Harley and Willa Haceesa supported me monetarily, and with love and encouragements,” said Harlei.
Mom Willa Haceesa talked about her college basketball daughter. She said: “My daughter Harlei has been blessed in so many ways on and off the court and has played on many courts on and off the reservation. She has developed her own basketball family. You’ll find her at a court everyday or you’ll find that basketball in her passenger seat traveling home back to the reservation, both would be strapped in for that long eight-hour drive home. She has always pushed herself to be better game after game. She will always and forever be my #1 basketball player, let alone the best sister and role model for others. I pray and hope that it doesn’t stop here for her with the next year being her last year playing her fourth year of college basketball.”
“The love and passion she has for the game is unique for me to watch my daughter. I start thinking about how far she’s come to set her mind to one thing. Playing college ball. With that privilege comes disciplining your self to do the work of hitting them books and the countless hours of practice. She knows her father, siblings, and I will always be her #1 fans and be behind her 100%. I also tell her to give all glory and praise to her Creator with offerings of the four elements of LIFE and to never take them elements for granted, cause them elements are a way of life to us Native people. I also tell her to never forget where she comes from and who she is as a NAVAJO woman,” added mom Willa.
“To be humble and respectful, and to always ask her Creator to be by her side everyday,” said Willa. “It’s an opportunity for my daughter to experience what life is like in the real world and playing basketball in different states. I tell her I get chills on my arms and have no control with the tears rolling down my eyes when I see my daughter playing on TV. It’s an exciting experience as a mother and I couldn’t ask for more than the Creator to wrap his love around her for me. I love my ‘SHIPROCK GIRL’.”
“Over the years watching her grow and mature as a student-athlete, came the responsibility, dedication and commitment, to maintain her grades to have the privilege to be able to play sports,” said dad Harley. “Her drive and hard work has earned her numerous awards. Having that attitude of wanting to get better she has become a very versatile player. Harlei has always had that leadership in her to not be afraid to take on the challenge or step up under pressure. As she has become more experienced as an athlete she is sharing that knowledge among her teammates. It’s exciting as a parent to have your daughter playing college basketball. We will always be her number #1 fans. Go HACEESA!”
Devonte Brewer, USW Head Women’s Basketball Coach, said: “Harlei really stepped up as a leader of our basketball team this season. She was vocal in holding herself and her teammates accountable. The best story I have for her this past season was after a game, I got on the girls for whatever reason. She asked to speak and told the girls she believes in them and that she likes playing with them. That was a huge step for our program coming together. She continues to impress and grow on and off the court. I know she spends a ton of our talking with the youth of her community to help them in whatever ways they need help.”
“The tribal core values in my life are wellness through prayers, herbs, women sweat, helping the homeless, and respect,” said Harlei. “The way of the Diné is two classes of beings: the earth and holy people. The holy people have the power to aid or harm the earth people. Since earth people of the Dine are an integral part of the universe, they must do everything they can to maintain harmony or balance on Mother Earth. My grandmother uses sage or sweet grass through prayers. When I go home, I smell the sweetness of prayers by my grandmother. She prays for everyone and surroundings. If she’s at my basketball game, she says a quick prayer and puts corn pollen on me. That motivates me to play powerful defense and offensively on the basketball court.”
“When I go out into the community, I receive encouragements and hugs. This motivates me with the core values in my life. I do this to make my people proud on the reservation and to make our tribe known and to also make a name for myself in the long run. Not only in sports but in the education world, not too many natives make it out of the reservation and go to school let alone get a full ride scholarship to a four year university,” added Harlei.
“My holistic model is living in health, harmony, and beauty,” said Harlei. “The Diné (Navajo) Hozho Wellness. Keeping the cultural teaching alive to improve health. My favorite food is mutton. If I’m lucky to eat some mutton, afterwards I continue to run two to four miles or exercise to work off the cholesterol. Daily physical activities at school are lifting weights, work on my abs, arms and run a lot. I work out every day three hours max and work every muscle in my body, since being home I have encouraged my siblings to work out with me.”
“My mental being is telling myself to finish or just move it!” said Harlei. “During high school, I use to procrastinate and in college or university, it’s a totally different of discipline. Keep up grades, go to practice and work out your muscles. Some knowledge areas I need to polish up on in my sport are court awareness and learning how each of my teammates play. This means their strengths and weaknesses that I can use to the best of my abilities. I also can work on my mental toughness during practices and games so I can learn to turn on that switch to not be tired and keep going.”
“My spiritual being is to pray to the almighty Creator through cedar aroma,” said Harlei. “It mediates my spiritual being and being closer to the holy people. I always try to pray before each game and practice so that I can have a clear mind and only think about basketball. Once you leave the reservation, you pray everyday and mature away from the family. But you remember all the wisdom of words from your family.”
“The toughness strategies in my mental being is once you start a task and finish it to the end. In stressful game situations I tell myself to be calm and that I have in more than a thousand games, so being in a close game situation is nothing new to me. I just have to tell myself that I need to conserve my energy but also perform to the best I can so that my team and I can come out with a win in the end. Talking to myself that way usually helps in the end and we do come out with a win,” added Harlei.
“In basketball, the practices can be tough,” said Harlei. “My right knee was injured during one of the basketball games, since then I have deal with the pain all the time. I’m under doctors care of treatment and determined to finish the season of my senior year. So, living in health, harmony, and beauty through the Hozho Wellness aspect of a Diné Woman.”
“The coronavirus pandemic has affected the world,” said Harlei. “It’s heartbreaking to see what the people are going through. I see a lot of people don’t listen to the prevention of shelter-in-place. I’m working part-time at the Farmington Safeway and practice the safety measure. When I’m off, I work on school assignments, run, walk and exercise with my siblings. And of course, we play basketball outside too. We practiced the quarantine and we all worked on our homework together. We worked together and we’re isolated from the public. Hand wash is very important.”
“The best story I can share with everyone is don’t be a quitter, finish it,” said Harlei. “When I was a little girl, I enrolled with Shiprock Boys and Girls Club and learned how to play basketball. I played with different teams and remember some of the coaches that taught me some skills. I remember my coach’s named Leon Wheeler, Vernon Blackie, Reyneldi Becenti, Nikki Crisp, Tisha Crisp, Earl Crisp, Lester Johnson and Tyrone Brown.”
“In the summer, I enrolled with the Rising Star Basketball Camp, traveled to different states to play and determined to play in a foreign country,” said Harlei. “Each team I played, the word determination was always mentioned to me. Certain schools asked me to come to their school and talk to the basketball team. It was a challenge to talk about my experiences and I went after the determination.”
“I encourage the younger generation to finish their education, continue onto college or university and succeed in life,” said Harlei. “No matter how tough the determination is, follow your path and finish it. No dream is too small or too big for you to achieve, because I am living mine every day.”
Photo Credit: Jacob Jarreau
Wonderful article!