By Dan Ninham
Gino Charging Bear is from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. and a sophomore at Cretin-Derham Hall High School. Charging Bear participates in lacrosse and wrestling.
“When I was 18 months old I learned to ice skate with the thanks of my até (Father),” said Charging Bear. “I played hockey up to Squirt level, and because of COVID in 2020 hockey was paused.”
“He also introduced me to čháŋškopa, the traditional medicine game. On the weekends we would go to John Hunter’s Twin Cities Native Lacrosse gatherings and I would have fun,” added Charging Bear. “After the pandemic, I decided to transition to playing lacrosse (čháŋškopa) because I fell in love with the game. I also learned that my nation used to play a similar sport like wrestling called kičhíkšaŋpi and used to play all sorts of games to prepare for battle to protect our people.”
“I feel I am continuing my people’s traditions being involved in the non-traditional versions of these sports,” said Charging Bear.
Charging Bear said, “I am guided by my Lakȟota 7 principle values: Fortitude, Generosity, Kinship, Prayer, Respect, Wisdom, and Compassion.”
“Fortitude for me, is facing the hardships and challenges of academics, and athletics. Generosity to me is volunteering in my community, as I do with the Civil Air Patrol, St. Paul Police Explorers program, and Rainbows End Horse Ranch where I love to work with horses. Kinship, is playing čháŋškopa on the weekends with other American Indians in my community. Prayer is always communicating with the creator to help me day to day. Respect is respecting myself and others. Wisdom is doing the hard work at school, intentional listening to my coaches and being a good person. Compassion is understanding not everyone has the road I have.”
Matt Hourigan is the Head Boys Lacrosse Coach at Cretin-Derham Hall HS. He said, “Gino is a young man of great character and a solid leader on our squad. As an example, Gino came to me after a game this past spring to discuss an incident that happened with one of his teammates on the field. His teammate had responded poorly to a conflict with an opposing player and retaliated in a way that reflected poorly on our team.
“Gino brought this up directly with me, which led to a discussion about our team values, how this situation impacts our team as a whole, and steps that he could take to help support his teammate and lead his team going forward. I was incredibly impressed his maturity and leadership, in this case,” added Coach Hourigan.
Joe Piazza is the Head Wrestling Coach Cretin Derham Hall. Coach Joe said, “Gino Charging Bear is in his second year of wrestling for Cretin Derham Hall. I have the pleasure of having Charging Bear as an athlete on my wrestling team for a second year. I have watched Gino transform into a mature young man of great character who has been a pleasure to work with.”
“There are many attributes that Gino bestows, but one that sticks out is his dedication to learn the sport of wrestling,” said Coach Piazza. “With this great work ethic he exemplifies leadership amongst his teammates. You can always count on him to give you 100% of his effort. With his dependability he drives a level of commitment that fellow teams grasp onto. When he commits to a task he can always be counted on to follow thorough and complete the job to the highest of standards.”
John Hunter (Winnebago/Ojibwe,/Muscogee) is one of the leaders of the Twin Cities Native Lacrosse program. He said, “Gino comes to each game or practice to have fun and his teammates really respond to his positivity. I can’t wait to see him coach or continue in other leadership positions.”
“I am very proud of how far I have come in athletics,” said Charging Bear. “To me, I have learned a lot about myself and further aspirations. My future goals are to be Team Captain of my Lacrosse team and be a leader in my wrestling team.”
“I aspire to serve the country as a United States Naval Officer and working toward the United States Naval Academy,” added Charging Bear.
