by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Kailee Sharlene-Denise Fineday is a 5-6 shooting guard and small forward for the Cass Lake-Bena HS Panthers girl’s basketball team.
“My dad is Gordon Fineday and my step-mother is Tuleah Palmer,” said Kailee. “Our family lives in Cass Lake, MN. I am a proud citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. My Indian Name is Mide Makoonce, which means Sacred Little Bear. I am also Turtle Mountain Chippewa.”
“I started my education at Cass Lake-Bena Elementary for kindergarten through 2nd grade,” said Kailee. “I then attended school in Bemidji, MN until transferring to my hometown school Cass Lake-Bena as a sophomore. I am currently a junior averaging 12 points per game. Our basketball team has a record of 15-6, and are 10-2 in the Northland Conference.”
“In my family we have many traditions and I’ve used the seven grandfather teachings to influence me,” said Kailee. “I used these teachings to help me made decisions. My family always used traditions and I grew up around it. I know the 7 teachings, and I learned to live by them. My grandpa and grandma are the ones who taught me how to live by the 7 teachings through ceremony. These are values that I have now as an Anishinabe woman. I come from a place of love and balance. Being honest has helped me overcome the many struggles I faced. Being brave has helped me through tough times and difficult situations. I’m respectful of my surroundings including other people, most importantly myself. My journey as a young Anishinabe woman has shown me wisdom. The many places I’ve seen and the experiences I’ve been a part of have brought wisdom as well. I also realized I have a lot more to learn. I’ve kept myself humble because I’ve got a lot more to learn and I was taught that we are a small part of the living world around us. Being truthful has helped me deal with my emotions. It’s shaped me into the women I am today, and becoming.”
“The person who has influenced me the most is my dad, Gordon,” said Kailee. “He is the one who taught me basketball and all the life lessons that come along with it. He motivates me and made me the person I am today. He pushes me to be better everyday and put out my best effort in anything I choose to invest time into. He has also taught me that there are consequences if I want something, and I have to work for it. He has also taught me discipline, which is something we talk about on the basketball court, but translates into everything else I do as a student-athlete.”
“I didn’t play basketball until 6th grade but although I got a late start playing the game, I fell in love with the game and I’ve been in the gym working on my skills since. My dad developed me into an athlete by pushing me every single day when we go to the gym. He was my very first coach. He had me focus on drills to develop my fundamentals. He helped me build up my knowledge of the game that gave the confidence I have today. He drove me to all my practices and numerous tournaments since 6th grade. We spent every summer working on different aspects of my game with a focus of turning my weaknesses into strengths. He would drop anything he was doing, just so I could play basketball. I play basketball because of him, which results to me playing for him. My dad is hard on me but that is what pushes me to work harder. He tells me every day how proud he is of me and that’s what keeps me going. He taught me that the game of basketball isn’t just a game, it’s where you meet lifelong friends and you learn valuable lessons. He has instilled hard work, focus, determination, and discipline into who I am as a basketball player, and he says that if I carry those traits into anything else that I choose to do, I will be successful. He talks to me about what basketball has given him during his time playing; from having lifelong friends to being able to travel to play and coaching the game he loves. He has shown me to put all of my effort into something positive, which turned out to be basketball. He has given me unconditional support throughout the time I’ve played basketball,” added Kailee.
“My stepmom Tuleah Palmer has influenced me as an athlete as well,” said Kailee. “She has always supported me, she wants me to push myself to grow as an athlete, but more importantly as a person. She is always telling me how proud she is of me and how great of an athlete I am. She is the one who I rely on to tell me straight up about how I am doing. She knows me better then I know myself. She’s a hard worker as well and she taught me at a young age what it means to live by our teachings and honor who we are as Anishinabe people.”
“My sisters, Ciara Fineday, Gabrielle Fineday, and Elin Palmer-Fineday have influenced me to be better because we all compete against one another,” said Kailee. “We all love the game. We want to beat each other that caused us to play our hardest that led to some rough and tough games. Playing hard against my sisters shown me what I need to work on individually to get better.”
“My oldest sister, Ciara, is a great mentor for me because she came from a bigger school in Minneapolis where she was an athlete,” said Kailee. “Her school program was intense so she has pushed me and she constantly wants to work out together and help me better myself for basketball. She is someone who I look up to because she works hard at everything she does, from school to basketball, to taking care of her family. She has also coached me and shared with me her experiences through basketball. She makes it to everyone of my games and she is there supporting me whenever I need it.”
“My middle sister, Gabrielle, is one of a kind,” said Kailee. “I taught her the game of basketball and we’ve been in the gym working with each other since I started playing. She is in the 7th grade and is a phenomenal basketball player. She influences me because she is just as competitive as i am and we’re always going against each other and It makes me want to be better. We challenge each other and push one another to be better. She is a gym rat as well so we are always in the gym working on our fundamentals and developing our games.”
“At last, my younger sister is Elin Palmer-Fineday,” said Kailee. “I want to be a great example for her, show her that with hard work and determination, she can do anything. Elin is in the 3rd grade and is just beginning to learn how to play basketball. Whenever we are in the gym, she is always asking me for help. We do drills together and I’m showing her what I have learned which in turn, makes me a better basketball player. I love passing what I have learned to little sister.”
“My coaches, Mike Reyes, Martin Wind and Tate Frazer have all made me want to be better,” said Kailee. “They taught me to keep my head up and focus on the game no matter what. When I wasn’t playing the way I play, they talked to me and helped me gain back my confidence. They would tell me to shoot my shot and take my time. They’ve taught me to keep my mindset at a positive and just keep doing what I do best. They’ve supported me when I’ve felt down on myself and they care about me. They’ve helped me reach the potential I was missing to make me a good basketball player.”
“My teammates have made me more confident also. They are always supporting me and being there for me so when I’m down. They help me get out of that negative mindset when I make a mistake. We are always helping each other out and picking each other up. Our whole entire team has developed good chemistry through hard work and teamwork. I really love playing with this team. These girls are one of the many reasons I fell in love with the game again, they make it all worth it. I’m extremely grateful for every single on of them. They’re all my sisters and I love them,” added Kailee.
“I overcame some challenges when I was younger,” said Kailee. “I was in a bad environment and I was in bad situations at times. My sister Gabby and I had two homes, one was stable and one wasn’t. I was too young to understand what was going on but I knew something wasn’t right in one of my homes. Bad decisions led to me not able to have my mother by my side. It was really hard to be in dangerous situations with my little sister at such a young age. Eventually we got to live with my dad full time but I still struggled with what had happened. I was hurt from all the dysfunction and sadness. This experience made me realize that I had to turn my emotions into something positive. I focused all of my energy to my education and sports. That saved me from having a negative lifestyle and falling into a cycle that some kids face in our communities.”
“I don’t blame my mom for anything, I love her and I will continue to support her as she fights for a healthy lifestyle. I believe my mom will overcome these hard times but this experience has led me to understand addictions and what it can do to families and loved ones. A lot of our young people see these types of struggles everyday and that makes me sad. I’m hoping my story can help others realize that just because some family members have struggles, it doesn’t mean you have to as well. Everyone has a choice of what kind of life they want to live. I could have easily been one of those girls who fell into a negative lifestyle but through lessons learned from basketball I’ve learned how to fight for a good life with hard work, focus and determination,” added Kailee.
“I overcame hard times with dedication and perseverance,” said Kailee. “I practiced for hours at a time and I focused on my skills that I needed to work on to be a better player.”
“As I started to focus on basketball and use it as my escape I began to love doing anything that involved being on the court,” said Kailee. “I began to play as much as I could and learn as much as I could from anyone that I could. I began to play for my school team in middle school but had a horrible experience with a coach that almost led me to quit playing. As I navigated this situation, I had to reevaluate and examine what went wrong. I had to ask myself ‘How can one person take something away from you that you worked so hard for?’ ‘How can you love something but yet be so upset while doing the very exact thing you love?’ My dad says ‘coaching is everything’ and now I know what he means. I had to find my peace. I had to fall back in love with basketball again. With my newly found love for the game again I began to focus on rebuilding myself up and through more hard work and determination I can honestly say that I am happier now more than ever playing the game the way I want with a great group of teammates surrounded by a great group of coaches who believe in their players. We all have the same team goals, we want to give ourselves the opportunity to go far in the playoffs and hopefully make a run at the state tournament.”
“Kailee has always been a fighter,” said dad Gordon Fineday (Ojibwe). “She tries something and if she doesn’t succeed, she doesn’t ever give up. She’s a tireless worker and puts her heart into anything she puts her energy into. The 2017 North American games were no different. She was selected as one of the players to attend the games in Toronto, Canada. We did have some circumstances that led us go to the event short handed. A lot of the players had to play out of position and play roles that were not accustomed to. All the girls should get a ton of credit for stepping up into roles they were not familiar with. As most basketball players know, the point guard is the most important position on the floor as they control the tempo of the game as well as calling the game on offense and defense.”
“Kailee stepped into the role and helped her teammates to a bronze medal. As the completion was top notch and the other teams were organized we played in some tough games against some very good competitors. As the girls got familiar with the new roles on the team we began to gain confidence as we got to the metal round. The medal round was highlighted with us playing a team in the bronze medal game that had beaten us in pool play by 15 points. We ended up winning the game as Kailee hit a game clinching layup with 8 seconds left. Even though at that time Kailee wasn’t the strongest ball handler and player, she showed some leadership qualities that continue on today. Even though she was uncomfortable with the notion of leading a team, she willed herself to make plays and focus defensively.”
“Kailee has plenty of ups and downs in that role but she continued to fight on and compete,” said dad Gordon. “I couldn’t be happier as her dad and the coach of that squad who overcame a lot of adversity to bring back home some hardware. I also want to give credit to all the other girls and coaches who contributed to that team. We fought, and scrapped our way! I couldn’t be prouder of that team. We competed hard with every one of our girls giving their all. Kailee has since taken all challenges head on that she faces on and off the court. As a father that’s all I can hope for.”
“As a student athlete I have accomplished taking a CNA college course and another CIS class,” said Kailee. “I was able to play two sports, volleyball and basketball while being in that class. I was able to manage my time and succeed in getting my CNA. I have straight A’s, and I am taking more college classes this semester. I have also managed going to the gym every night with my dad, and manage my morning workouts at 6:30 am every morning.”
“Advice I would give other student athletes would be to always give your all no matter what, and work as hard as you can because one day it’ll pay off,” said Kailee. “This goes for the classrooms and on the courts. Establish great relationships with people because they’ll end up being your lifelong friends and biggest supporters. Be a leader and strive for greatness. Make as much memories as possible. Lastly, enjoy it while it lasts!”
Photo Credit: Gordon Fineday
Awesome article, I cannot wait to see you to continue to grow as a young lady and an amazing athlete.
Great article about my beautiful niece. Howah!! Miigwech.