Cherokee Nation and #14 Foundation Join to Offer Life, Cultural Lessons
Day of Champions coach Dustin Perry offers pointers to Kelton Tucker of Vinita.Coaches often say players learn many life lessons on the field. This year, the coaches themselves learned some lessons in Cherokee history and culture on the field during the third annual Day of Champions camp hosted by the Cherokee Nation and the #14 Foundation.
During a standard camp, youth are provided mentoring and coaching in athletics, health, fitness, life choices and the four principles of leadership: discipline, respect, trust and hard work. This year, though, organizers incorporated several cultural components, defining it clearly as a Cherokee Nation camp.
“Our language, our culture and our values are central to what the kids and their families are exposed to while they are with us,” said Dr. B.J. Boyd, program director for Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health Services. “The coaches took particular note of the cultural elements. They told us they learned a lot more about Cherokee people, and can see we have a living culture and a sense of our heritage.”
Coaches for the camp include some of the top collegiate coaches in the country, as well as former college and NFL players, who provide a positive influence on youth in our communities. Participants come from several Cherokee communities to test their endurance and enhance their skills through position skill instruction, strength and conditioning drills, and individual and team competition.
Several coaches were anxious to return for the opportunity to play stickball, which they learned at last year’s camp. Many were also moved by the cultural additions this year of Cherokee language and traditional storytelling.
“The Cherokees are a great people and a great culture,” said Josh Norman, head football coach for Community Christian School in Norman and former Oklahoma Sooner. “I think what you are doing to teach the kids their language is huge because it was something that was taken from them so long ago and to get that piece of the culture back is great.”
Ken Heupel, head coach for the camp and father of former Sooner quarterback and #14 Foundation founder Josh Heupel, said the camp was a learning experience for the kids, their parents and the coaches.
“The pride here is unbelievable; pride in doing this correctly and doing it at a high level. This year, with the inclusion of the Cherokee culture, it’s a learning experience for both sides,” he said. “You see the character of Cherokees, and you find out there are a lot of great athletes as well. We’re using the sport to teach the game of life. Hopefully what we teach adds to the culture.”
The camp has more than tripled in size since the first camp was held in 2008, with 140 participants this year. On the second day of the camp, parents are encouraged to come out and participate to help build relationships with their child.
“The coaches’ attitudes, their spirit, their love for the kids and the encouragement they offer are some of the high points of the camp,” said Cherokee citizen Sally Thrasher of Claremore, who brought her two sons, Skyler and Hunter, to the camp. The coaches share their stories and teach the kids both the drills and life skills as well.”
Thrasher also said having the opportunity to go through the drills with her children was a great bonding experience.
“They have more respect for me getting out there and doing what they did,” she said. “It was awesome.”
The tribe’s Behavioral Health Services program strives to strengthen efforts in communities to reduce substance abuse and its consequences through a strategic prevention framework of community partnerships. Boyd said it is his hope the adults and youth participating in the camp will in turn go back and work with the tribe’s community coalitions in helping keep their areas drug free. The effort falls in with the tribe’s philosophy to strive to be a happy and healthy people.
“Last year the coaches really enjoyed learning about stickball. They have all been athletes at the college or professional level and they’re very competitive, so they were eager to get another chance to play this year, but when camp was over it was the language and the traditional storytelling that they were talking about the most,” Boyd said. “The kids, the parents, and the coaches were hanging on every word.”