by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Successful athletes may be active in multiple sports. One sport complements another in training and competition. This is a benefit to encourage athletes to reach peak performance in both or more sports.
Mataya Yellow Mule is a 5’9, gymnast and track athlete. She is a sophomore at Central HS, Rapid City, South Dakota. Mataya is also Oglala Lakota and lives in Rapid City.
“My mom is Diane Two Bulls and she is from Pine Ridge,” said Mataya. “My dad is Conrad Yellow Mule, and is Crow from Montana.”
“Most of my values include being humble, meaning I will not compare myself to others, to make them feel bad about themselves, cause we all start somewhere,” said Mataya.
“I coached Mataya for two gymnastics seasons,” said Pam Junek, Rapid City Central HS head gymanistics coach. “She has been a very strong asset to the Central High School Team. I have enjoyed working with this very talented athlete because she is always willing to apply what the coaches have given her through her training and has been very successful in high school gymnastics.”
“Mataya is tall for a gymnast which can be very challenging for most girl’s. However, Mataya has really worked hard to use this to her advantage and has a very beautiful presence when she is competing. Mataya has qualified for State Competition where she will be competing this Saturday in Aberdeen, SD.”
“I have a past accomplishment with my track career,” said Mataya. “I am a high jumper, triple jumper, and I run the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes. I moved here from Hardin, Montana. While I was there I placed in the state track meet.
“My athletic accomplishments would be placing at the state competition,” said Mataya. “I didn’t think I was capable of that. I do gymnastics and I find it a good way to prepare for track, just to get myself in shape. I’m not amazing at gymnastics, but I do what I can.”
“My advice for others is to remember we all started somewhere,” said Mataya. “No one is born amazing, we all had to work hard, and we’re just working hard at different times. Being humble is an important trait if you’re going to succeed. No one is going to support someone who only supports themselves.”
“My positive influence definitely is my gymnastics teammate Emirra Returns, because she wants what she wants so bad, and she works so hard for it, she holds her self at high standards, and she expects a lot from herself,” said Mataya. “On another hand she is so inspiring and she doesn’t let anyone on the team slack. She even gets bossy sometimes, but to me she’s an amazing leader for our team.”
Photo Credit: Mataya Yellow Mule
