by (Norman, Oklahoma) – The Oklahoma football practice fields welcomed different guests than the usual ones in helmets and shoulder pads as more than 200 Native American students from around the state visited Norman on Wednesday for the second-annual Sooners for N7 Youth Movement event.
Organized by OU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the event featured multiple stations where groups of students, led by student-athletes, rotated to learn about various health and wellness methods. Throughout the day, participants did activities such as playing soccer, learning yoga moves at the Zen stop and building teamwork at the synergy station, among others.
The youth, ranging in ages from 10-12, represented several different tribes, some of which were Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, Osage Nation and Choctaw.
The Nike N7 Initiative is committed to bringing sport and all of its benefits to Native American and Aboriginal communities in the United State and Canada with the goal of helping these youth recognize and build on their history. It derives its name and ideals from the Native American wisdom of the Seven Generations, or “In every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the seventh generation,” according to the organization’s website.
This marked the second year of the event on OU’s campus, which was first held last spring once former women’s tennis player Whitney Wofford presented the idea after learning about it as an intern at Nike. At OU, the purpose of the event is to give back to the large Native American population in the state.
“We just want these kids to understand that we are here for them and that we believe in them,” said Amanda Johnson, SAAC President. “Native American statistics in youth show the odds are kind of against them (in some categories), so we wanted them to know that we want to help them prevent the odds. (We are) definitely moving the power of sport with a great group of kids.”
The organizers wanted to integrate Native American culture, working closely with OU’s Native American Studies department and Native American Student Life to provide traditional activities such as stickball and powwow dancing, said graduate assistant Jody Lutz, who served on the planning committee.
During lunch, Jerry Bread, Ph.D., of the Native American Studies department spoke to the students about the importance of respect and taking care of themselves. He also encouraged them to share the experiences of the day with their parents.
For Dillon Palmer, a fifth grader from Ada, Okla., it was enjoyable to have the chance to spend time with some OU student-athletes he had never met.
“We are having fun and we are learning life lessons and we are staying hydrated and just having fun and running around, playing games,” Palmer said.
Aurora Gibson, a sixth grader from Tahlequah, Okla., said the day was a “good experience” and that her favorite station was the obstacle course.
“It’s been really fun,” Gibson said. “We are doing physical activity and that’s good because sadly not very many people do that anymore. They are making it really fun and actually it’s actually really fun to do stuff like this.”
Redshirt junior baseball player Cole Stevens planned the event along with fellow student-athletes, women’s golf’s Johnson, track and field’s Jenny Carmichael and wrestling’s Jon Townsend, and athletics staff members, including Dr. Nicki Moore and Dr. Carol Ludvigson. He said the N7 concept of anything done today affects the next seven generations is powerful to him because it encourages one to live in the present.
“It’s extremely important to get these kids active and get them working in sports and showing them that if you put in the work and you work hard and you have good teamwork, good sportsmanship, good nutrition, things like that, you can make it,” Stevens stated. “I think they kind of look up to us as athletes and the fact that we do that every single day. We try to show good sportsmanship, we try to be good teammates and eat well, sleep well, do those types of things, and that helps play into just an individual being healthy outside of sports.”
One of the more than 100 student-athletes who volunteered on Wednesday was Buddy Hield, men’s basketball junior. Hield said he thought the chance to interact with each other was good for both the kids and athletes.
“It’s fun to get away from your sport and play with these kids,” Hield said. “The kids don’t get to do something like this every day, and we love spending time with them and making their day.”
Johnson shared that the whole day was a “blast” as the student-athletes engaged with the youth, joining in for the “downward dog” yoga move, participating in races or donning a Velcro suit at which students threw tennis balls. At the end of the day, Johnson said all of the effort put into the event paid off.
“I get super emotional about this kind of stuff,” Johnson shared. “When it first started and all the kids were smiling and running in and giving me high fives, that’s what this is all about. It’s definitely worth all the time we’ve put into it for sure.”
