Youth Learn Health and Wellness at Sports Camp

On Monday, December 18, the Comanche Nation held a sports camp at Watchetaker Hall. The event was open to the public.

Athletic Director of Mercy School Institute in Edmond, Oklahoma, Cedric Sunray, said he was blessed to put on the sports camp.

“It's really about wellness and health and valuing physical activity within our tribal communities and then connecting it to the culture of the community,” he said. “So, it's been great to be able to be here and experience the other presenters' viewpoints and what they bring to that as well as the students' reaction. You can see all day they've just been super happy and just glad to be here.”

Sunray said it’s important for the youth, especially in the tribal community, to be a part of health and wellness.

“When we're dealing with all the negative social issues that people discuss quite frequently, from suicide on to issues surrounding physical health like diabetes, these are the preventative measures that are needed,” he said. “It's not coming at the end of something and trying to take care of a health issue. It's dealing with it at the beginning. And so, we have those healthy life ways and healthy pathways for the kids.”

The sports camp integrated tribal language and games and activities that aren’t always taught in schools, according to Sunray.

“We want to make sure that all of our athletic programs are fully inclusive. And so, not everyone dunks a basketball and hits a home run,” he said. “And so, if you're showing them all kinds of sets of skills that can be utilized in various different sports and the kids are able just to be in a safe space together. You have all these Native kids that are getting together and doing things together. They have that commonality of experience. They talk about other things outside of athletics. They talk about their interests in other areas. There's the break times in between where they're always joking around and having a good time with each other. And so just all of that combined, I think that's what makes it the healthy environment that we're looking for.”

Sunray said he would be grateful to be a part of another camp such as this in the future.

“I think it's just wonderful that Comanche Nation does this type of programming. That they take their dollars, and they create these opportunities with those dollars,” he said. “There's a million things that those monies can be spent on. And these are things that are preventative and also community building. So, I hope they continue to do this. I know they've done it for years, and I'm sure it will go on into the future with what they're trying to accomplish with it.”

Those who participated received lunch, a fanny pack, a water bottle, and a T-shirt.