by By Dan Ninham
Cenia Hayes is a 5-9 senior guard for the NCAA DII Northeastern State University RiverHawks basketball team. She led the team last season as an MIAA Honorable Mention selection and it was her second honor. She had seven 20-point games with a season and career high of 27 points twice. She was also named to the MIAA Honor Roll.
Cenia talked about her background: “I am Cherokee and a member of the Blue Clan. My native name is E-do-le and means ‘wanderer; goes everywhere.’ I am 22 years old. I am from Tahlequah, OK where I attended Tahlequah Sequoyah High School. My mother’s name is Sharon Hayes and my dad is Glen Hayes.”
“I am also less than 100 points away from 1000 career points,” said Cenia. “The past two seasons, I have led my team in points, rebounds, and steals. During my career at Sequoyah HS, our teams won the class 3A State Basketball Championship twice in 2015 and 2017, and I was selected to the 2015 State Tournament MVP, and was an All Tournament First Team selection twice.”
“Personally, I believe in togetherness and unity,” said Cenia. “I wouldn’t be the student-athlete I am today without my family, friends, coaches or teachers. I’ve always had a great support system behind me.”
“My biggest influence would have to be my mom,” said Cenia. “My mom has always been my biggest fan and supporter. She’s the one who has always pushed me past my limits and made me believe in myself. She’s always done everything she could to make it to my siblings and my competitions. She has sacrificed so much for me to be where I’m at today. Because of her, I strive everyday to be a better person and athlete than I was the day before. I’m forever grateful for her support and love she has shown me. Someday I will be able to repay her for everything she’s done for me.”
Mom Sharon Hayes talked about her daughter’s leadership off the court: “Cenia was at a youth church camp and she was asked to speak and answer questions. She was asked to speak about her journey to becoming a college athlete, what it takes to get there and the rewards of all the hard work. She spoke of how it was her dream to play college basketball and all the trials she went through.”
“She earned a starting position as a freshman and as a sophomore her high school team won the Oklahoma Class 3A State Championship in 2015 along with her sister Sierra Polk,” said Sharon. “As little girls they made a pact with each other that they would win a state championship together. Together they achieved this. Cenia was named the MVP and both were named to the State All-Tournament team. During the summer she was heavily recruited by many schools, including Division I, II and III schools.”
“Junior season things were tough, a couple of weeks before school started she received a phone call from a family member of her best friend and she was informed that Krystal had passed away in her sleep. This was devastating news, as she was waiting for a text message reply from her. This was in July, and in October she learned that her mother had cancer, two weeks later during practice she tore her ACL and MCL and was going to miss the whole season. Even though she was not on the court she was there at every game on the sideline, cheering and helping her team anyway she could,” added Sharon.
“Through all this she was able to keep herself together and keep going and managed to keep her grades as an honor student,” said Sharon. “She came back for her senior season fully recovered from her injury and was able to lead her team back to another Class 3A State Championship in 2017 and was named to the all tournament team.”
“Cenia decided to stay home and attend Northeastern State University and play basketball,” said Sharon. “She liked the thought of being close to home so her family would be able to continue to watch her. Just before her first scrimmage as a college freshman she had more devastating news her father had been in a car accident and he did not survive. Life has had its share of difficult times but she is thriving and starting her senior year of college. Her mother has been cancer-free for four years and she has been the scoring leader for her team.”
“These are the things she talked about with the youth,” added Sharon.
In a twitter post after the youth camp talk, Cenia said: “Growing up I was just like these kids, getting autographs and asking for pictures with my role models. Now I’m the one signing the autographs and getting asked to take pictures. This is a dream come true and I thank God for giving me this opportunity to speak with these kids.”
“My uncle Myron Bolin is the one who put the ball in my hand and taught me how to play the game,” said Cenia. “We spent countless hours in the gym together just working on shooting, ball handling, and skills work. My uncle has always been there for me. He set me on this path to where I’m at today. If it wasn’t for him I don’t know what I’d be doing. I’m beyond grateful for the time he put in with me, and the small sacrifices he has made for me to be where I am today.”
“I only played high school ball for three years,” said Cenia. “The pre-season of what was going to be my junior year I completely blew out my knee. I tore my MCL, ACL, and even severely damaged my meniscus. This was really tough considering we had just won state the previous season and were returning a lot of our players. We were expected to win again or at least be there in the finals.”
“Literally a week before I tore my ACL my mom was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer. This was a really tough and emotional time for me personally. However, mom didn’t let me hang my head for very long. Even though she was sick and weak she always had a smile on her face and looked for the brighter side of every situation and she made sure I did the same.”
“I looked at this setback as an opportunity to see things through my coach’s eyes,” said Cenia. “I helped grow my teammates in life and in their game just as my mom was doing for me. I never missed a game, practice, or team meeting. I was my teams biggest fan and cheered them on and coached them every game.”
“Cenia Hayes is the definition of a student-athlete,” said Fala Bullock, head women’s basketball coach at Northeastern State University. “She carries her weight both on and off court. She’s a leader by example and a very focused and disciplined athlete that her coaches and team respect. Cenia is a very quiet leader and does what’s asked of her to the best of her ability and beyond. She lets her game speak for itself, she doesn’t have to talk about it and that’s her humbleness. She thinks of herself as more of a follower than leader and often doesn’t realize she’s the one that everyone is following. She takes an active role in peer coaching in practices to help younger players learn the scheme and strategies of our program. She’s a positive and very influential leader in our community with so many of her Cherokee Nation community members following her career and staying in touch with her.”
“It’s rare for any members of our program to visit a local business or schools with Cenia where someone isn’t stopping Cenia to say hello, check on her and her family or asking when the next ball game is. She has participated in every community service engagement our program is asked to participate in and often people ask specifically for her to be present. Last summer she was asked to speak to a group of young Cherokee students at a summer camp where she shared what it was like to grow up Cherokee and how she earned a scholarship to play college basketball,” added Fala.
“The kids look up to her and want to be like her,” said Fala. “That type of humbleness is just one of Cenia’s beautiful characteristics.”
Photo Credit: Northeastern State University Athletics
