by Photo: Adriel Clements
By Dan Ninham, Contributing Writer
Karliey Parker is an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation. She is going to be a senior at Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, OK. She is an athlete for the Lady Braves.
Parker participates in four sports including cross country, softball, basketball and track. She came in sixth place in the state cross country meet and received an All State jacket and a ring as a junior. The softball team made it to districts but want to advance farther next season.
“Basketball was the best experience of my life,” said Karliey Parker. “We went 26-2 and we won districts, regionals, and area. We made it to state and won the quarter-finals but lost in the semi-finals.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of me and my teammates for making it so far and making history. Seeing a lot of natives come around to support us was a dream come true!” added Parker.
“Last track season I made it to state in two events … the 3200m relay and the 800m run,” said Parker. “I never lost an 800m run ‘til I went to regionals but came in second place.”
“My grandma taught me when I was little to be nice to everyone off and on the court,” said Parker. “The indigenous part is to be respectful to others and to communicate with each other to be a leader. It takes a whole team to win and a whole team to lose. I am proud to be Wichita, Kiowa, and Comanche.”
“They had the fieriest tribal leaders that were respectful. I have shown myself to be a good leader and I was never selfish. I am an all-around team player and my sportsmanship is always the best and that’s what made us stand out at the state basketball games,” added Parker.
“I am preparing to compete at the next level,” said Parker. “I am ready for it all, honestly working on and off the court putting so much time in when I can after practice, before practice, at home and when I’m not doing anything.”
“My mentor is my mother and I look up to her a lot,” said Parker. “I was like her when she was in high school being good at everything and I wanted to go to college just like her and grow up knowing she is proud of me for who I am.”
“My other mentor is my coach,” said Parker. “I look up to him a lot because he pushes me to be who I am today. He don’t give up on things and when things can be really hard he helps me get through a lot when it comes to basketball.”
Kim Lewis is a member of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes of Oklahoma and she’s the mother of Karliey. She talked about the path her daughter is on with basketball. She said, “I knew Karliey was going to be great when she was six years old and she played her first game of basketball. Not knowing how to play or what to expect she was a natural and mind you she was playing against 10 olds.”
“Her older sisters’ team needed an extra player so we threw her in there. She was so small she couldn’t even get the ball to the rim but her defense was awesome. She would steal the ball and have to wait for her teammates to get down court so they could get a score. That’s when I knew I had a ball player and an athlete and everything she played became natural to her after that,” added Kim.
James Kelley, Kiowa/Choctaw coached Karliey for two seasons. He said, “Karliey has always been a winner even when she was in little league. She always played up in the older divisions and had a fire about her and always had confidence when playing against older and larger girls. She definitely doesn’t mind playing the giants and that mentally stays with her today.”
“She has led our team in scoring and assists and been second in rebounds. She plays the game the right way,” added Coach Kelley.
Karliey’s father is Gary Parker Jr, an outstanding basketball player, in his own right. He coached Karliey in little league to a three year undefeated season.
Thats awesome, she is a true Indigenous competitor!