by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Star athletes will find ways to improve their and their teammates by any means necessary. A locked gym will not be a barrier to get better. Empowerment comes into play for these athletes to find ways to continue their journey to be successful.
“I’m 5’11, and I play basketball at Tiospa Zina Tribal School,” said Jamison Pratt. “I’m from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe. I live in Sisseton South Dakota. My parents are Trevor Pratt and Susan Fleury. I am a senior and our team record is currently 10-2.”
“A Dakota core value I follow everyday is respect,” said Jamison. “Everyday on and off the court you need to be respectful to your teammates, coaches, teachers, peers and opponents and most of all, elders. If you want to get far in sports you need to respect your coaches first and foremost. You also definitely need to treat yourself with respect.”
Mike Carlson, Head Basketball Coach and Athletic Director at Tiospa Zina, has positively influenced me a lot. He has helped me improve on the basketball court as a player as well as a person off the court.
Coach Mike Carlson said: “Jamison is a great young man. He is a silent leader for our team and tends to lead more by example than words. In reflecting on his leadership, he is very dedicated to playing the game and working hard to get better and better each day. From out of season workouts to daily practices he comes prepared to put in work. When he has down time during practice or workouts you will often see him working on his perimeter and post moves as well as getting game type shots up. As far as leadership in games go, you can often rely on him to take over a game with his rebounding and offensive skills, and if needed he will attempt to put the team on his back and carry them to victory. I’ve seen this in a lot of our close games over the last two seasons. He is not a man of many words, but he uses his work ethic, and determination to be a leader to his teammates.”
“Sacred Hoops AAU coach Jerome Nesheim, also Head Coach for the Clark Willow Lake Cyclones in South Dakota, helped me a lot on the basketball court in the little time that we’ve had together during the summer,” said Jamison. “He helped me get more much needed exposure so I can hopefully get college basketball scholarships.”
“Francis Crawford is a coach I’ve been playing for every summer since 8th grade,” said Jamison. “He coaches the Team Wambdi summer traveling team. He’s helped me improve tremendously on the basketball court by playing older, better competition throughout native country and the United States.”
“I’ve regularly been on the Honor Roll throughout high school,” said Jamison. “I maintain good grades and take my schoolwork very seriously.
“I’m going to soon be a 1000 point scorer in the next 1-2 games,” said Jamison. “We have had really good success as a team making it to the championship game of the Lakota Nation Invitational (LNI) falling short by 2 points. We also made it to the Sweet 16 last year. We hope to improve off of that and make it to State for the first time in Tiospa Zina history this year.”
“My advice for other student athletes to be successful is work hard everyday on and off the court,” said Jamison. “Do all the little things. After awhile all those little things will add up and help you in a big way.”
“Jerrad Max, another coach from the Team Wambdi summer traveling team helped me a lot on the court by giving me confidence and opening up a gym so I can improve my game a lot more,” said Jamison.
“Growing up in the SWO (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate) wasn’t easy to just go to a gym and put shots up or do basketball drills,” said Jamison. “Coming from a small town and reservation where if the gym wasn’t open you had to improvise, which meant using outside courts or just having a ball in hand to improve your game, watching highlights of people, going to the fitness center anything to stay in shape and show you’re improving each and every practice and game. To me not just as a student-athlete, but a Native American student-athlete, there isn’t an option to give up, we have to strive better and want it more and more each and every time we go out on the court. Showing our younger generation that if I can do it they can also, but not to be like me, to strive to be better than me, in all aspects of life not just on the court or in whatever sport you play.”
“I encourage all athletes like myself to not only treat others with respect but to respect yourself too,” said Jamison. “Respect can go a long way and when you are respectful to others, others will respect you. Respect isn’t the only thing, but education first and foremost as a student athlete you should push yourself to not only improve and excel on the court but to also be an outstanding student in the classroom as well. For me playing basketball gives me a purpose to show out for my community and the coming generations, this game is more than just a game. It shows that there’s more to this life than just the ‘Rez’ traveling the summers ‘tourney trail’ or the AAU basketball trail. This has impacted my life tremendously by meeting other athletes with the same drive for the sport as I. To be an athlete with the opportunity to travel the country to play a sport and have fun doing it is more than rewarding enough to a kid from the reservation.”
“With this being said, I want to thank my family for the unconditional support and love they show me as I finish my senior year at Tiospa Zina,” said Jamison. “Also, my teammates and all the coaches and teammates that have helped me develop into the player I’ve become and will continue to become. I thank the community and fans for supporting my teammates and I, believing in us through every loss and win, and never giving up hope that we will go on this run during regions to make history for our reservation.”
Photo Credit: John Heminger
He is a Dakota.