{"id":38206,"date":"2024-12-12T21:05:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T02:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/premier-basketball-tournament-empowers-youth-through-sports-academics-and-culture\/"},"modified":"2024-12-12T21:05:47","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T02:05:47","slug":"premier-basketball-tournament-empowers-youth-through-sports-academics-and-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/premier-basketball-tournament-empowers-youth-through-sports-academics-and-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier basketball tournament empowers youth through sports, academics, and culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>
\"Lakota<\/a><\/p>\n

Lakota Nation Invitational board members from L. to R., Bryan Brewer, Keith Ferguson, Dani Walking Eagle, John Haas, Silas Blaine. (Photo by Marnie Cook)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

RAPID CITY \u2013 December is a busy month as one of the largest annual events in the state comes to Rapid City. The 47th Lakota Nation Invitational (LNI) will kick off on December 17 and continue through December 21, 2024, at The Monument in Rapid City. LNI holds events year-round, but this is the big one.<\/p>\n

The LNI board members hosted an open house at Prairie Edge just before the Thanksgiving holiday to give a preview of this year\u2019s tournament and begin the countdown to the tournament. What began as an all-Indian tournament is now this year open to all students nationally who wish to attend. Basketball Director Bryan Brewer thanked Rapid City Mayor Jason Salamun and former mayors for attending. \u201cEvery mayor we have ever had has given us so much support.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was resounding applause when Brewer announced that Rapid City native and now WNBA coach for the Las Vegas Aces Becky Hammon will be at the tournament.<\/p>\n

Board members said there are many ways people can support the LNI, and they are always looking to partner with people. \u201cYou can support LNI with advertising, sponsorships, and partnerships. Showing up is always greatly appreciated also,\u201d said staff member Janel Wright, \u201cespecially during the red carpet event.\u201d LNI teams get the red carpet treatment when they arrive. With an escort from law enforcement, throngs of local fans from the community and business sectors give the teams a lively welcome. \u201cCome and cheer on the kids,\u201d encouraged Wright. Brewer said there will be a flyover as well from Ellsworth Airforce Base, \u201cThat\u2019s something new and we would like to thank Ellsworth for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brewer said LNI is much more than a basketball tournament. Other sports competitions include archery, cheer, skateboarding, wrestling and more. There are hand games which is a Lakota guessing game of chance and strategy. Hand games, or stick games as they are sometimes called, are often played at social gatherings and are seen as a test of mental agility and observation skills. <\/p>\n

The LNI also features an art show. \u201cThis is the largest high school art show in South Dakota,\u201d said Brewer. \u201cWe started the art show before the state did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students will compete in the Lakota Language, Academic and Knowledge Bowls. \u201cWe are trying to get away from competing and have students show more of their knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it started in 1976, there were 8 teams participating. Today, there are 40 different schools. The tournament brings in thousands of participants and fans from around the region.<\/p>\n

Brewer said that he and Dave Archambault started the tournament out of necessity because non-Indian teams wouldn\u2019t play the Indian teams. It became popular instantly. \u201cBy the second year we seated about 1200 people, and it was packed the first day. After two years it couldn\u2019t be held in Pine Ridge anymore. The fire marshal was getting concerned. It was a small gym, and it was standing room only. So, we had to move it. At that time, the Civic Center, now The Monument, was brand new. We decided to move the all-Indian basketball tournament to Rapid City.\u201d Brewer said the first LNI basketball games were the first basketball games ever played at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.<\/p>\n

Relationships have improved in South Dakota since those first years. Brewer said that when the tournament finally came to Rapid City, they decided to change the name of the tournament to the Lakota Nation Invitational \u201cso we could invite non-Indian teams to participate. This was when Tim Giago and Governor Mickelson were working together for peace and reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the days of open racism have diminished, racial inequality in South Dakota and the United States persists. \u201cWe realize we can\u2019t change the minds of some people,\u201d said Brewer. \u201cBut we hope with our younger generation that both the Indian and non-Indian students realize that we are more alike than we are different.\u201d<\/p>\n

LNI\u2019s nearly fifty-year commitment to youth empowerment through sports, academics and culture earned them the 2024 Good Relatives Collaborative Bush Prize from the Bush Foundation which recognized their commitment. Brewer said, \u201cWe\u2019re so proud to receive this recognition and are honored to continue building the future for our youth.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com<\/a>)<\/span> <\/p>\n

The post Premier basketball tournament empowers youth through sports, academics, and culture<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>

Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

Lakota Nation Invitational board members from L. to R., Bryan Brewer, Keith Ferguson, Dani Walking Eagle, John Haas, Silas Blaine. (Photo by Marnie Cook) RAPID CITY \u2013 December is a busy month as one of the largest annual events in the state comes to Rapid City. The 47th Lakota Nation <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> December 12, 2024<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":38208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5627],"tags":[6657],"class_list":["post-38206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resource-directory-blog","tag-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}