Lakota Worthington (Odawa): Trying My Best Are My Father’s Lessons

By Dan Ninham (Oneida)

Lakota Worthington is a senior football player at Pellston High School, Michigan. His positions are running back, corner back, and returns punts and kicks.

“I am a member of the Little Traverse Bays Band of Odawa (LTBBO),” said Lakota. “My father is Kevin Ray Worthington and my mother is Maureen Blazen. My dad is also a member of LTBB of Odawa. My mother lives in Cheboygan, Michigan.”

“Being part of the LTBBO makes me very proud and I’m proud to represent my community and Nation and Tribe,” said Lakota.

Lakota is a 3.5 GPA student and excels in three sports: football, basketball and track. After winning four total football games in the past three years, the team won its first six this season before getting its first loss last week.

“I bring to my team are my leadership ability and my contributions to both sides of the ball as my team only has 12 players,” said Lakota.

“I carry my tribal core values with me through my day to day life,” said Lakota. “I try my best to live by the Seven Grandfather Teachings: Niizwaaswe Kinoomaagewinan. Carrying these with me helps me as a student athlete and in general my daily life by giving me something to live by and helps me strive to be the best possible version of myself.”

 “My father heavily influenced me as a student athlete,” said Lakota. “He taught me to always try my best no matter how difficult it was and to always push forward. He told me that as long as I did that he would be proud of me no matter the outcome and everything would be all right. This helped me a lot and made me always try my best.”

Lakota added: “For three years before my senior season my father had been my biggest supporter.  He told me if football was something I loved then I should stick with it. He was always there encouraging me to stay dedicated. During my freshman and sophomore years we lost all but one game and had the 40-point running clock rule in most of our games. But he gave me the courage to get back up off the ground after those defeats and play on while always making sure I did my best. He was there for me to talk about ways to improve, and always was willing to help me on the weekends with my routes and to throw me the ball. My junior year it finally started to pay off as we began to make significant improvement and went 4-5. Then my father began to get very sick. He was in and out of the hospital on what seemed to be a regular basis. But he was still always there for me when I needed it. Even with everything he was going through. Then in March of this year I got a call from my mother. I had lost my brother. My father was my rock during this time. He helped me through as I was in a very confused state of mind. He always checked in on me always was there to talk whenever I needed. He was still in and out of the hospital during the time but he would make sure to call and check on me every day. He helped me through so much. He was finally home for a longer period of time after being in and out of the hospital for months and he seemed to be on the road to recovery. About a month later he passed away from a sudden heart attack. This was the hardest thing I have ever dealt with. All of a sudden he wasn’t there. I felt lost. He was my rock. But through this very rough time I received an unbelievable amount of support from my family, community, and my friends. People like my cousins Monica, Mike and my mother, aunts, and uncles were there to help fill that void that was left behind. Monica and Mike have very much been there for me during this time. They come to every game I have even though they live two hours away. Mike talks to me about my games and ways to improve. Knowing I have my family and my community constantly there to support me helps me to have the courage to work even harder during my senior season. My team is in the process of a historic season, being state ranked and qualified for playoffs for the first time in school history. Even though my father is not physically here I know he’s with me on my journey and is watching and smiling over me the entire time.”