Red Lake Nation College (RLNC) and Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC) are launching new basketball teams and have selected coaches. Gerald Kingbird will be coaching the Migizi-The Eagles of Red Lake Nation College, and Brady Fairbanks will be coaching for the Leech Lake Tribal College, who are still deciding on a mascot. Fairbanks and Kingbird are both former high school basketball legends of their communities.
The new teams will be part of the small but growing Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC). Currently the teams in the conference are all based in Minnesota and North Dakota. Tribal Colleges make up a third of the NIAC. Fairbanks and Kingbird acknowledged the significance of having tribal schools belong to the same conference. Fairbanks said, “I think it’s really a good thing for Natives on the rez it gives them a chance to pursue something besides work.” Kingbird said, ”It will be nice to play the other Native kids around the region and have them meet other Native kids who are also going to college.”
The other schools in the NIAC are Oak Hills Christian College in Bemidji, Association Free Lutheran of Plymouth, Crossroads College in Rochester and the Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, N.D. The North Dakota Teams dominated the 2012-13 season. Trinity Bible College had the best team record in the NIAC and Turtle Mountain College won the 2012-13 Championship.
As Kingbird and Fairbanks are recruiting they will be following the National Collegiate Athletic Association standards to determine eligibility. Both of the schools are part of the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division III. Following these guidelines means all the players will need to succeed academically.
The coaches have some roadblocks to overcome. Fairbanks feels the LLTC biggest challenge is that “we don’t have dorms or a facility, but we will work on that to have in the future, but LLTC is good, its cheap, there are nice teachers and good classes.”
The challenge for Kingbird in recruiting so far “is getting players enrolled in college.” Both coaches remained positive about their recruitment so far. Fairbanks highlighted what a great opportunity it is to get students motivated for college because, “It’s a really good thing to get students who have talent to do something with their lives.”
Both coaches are both working out a season schedule and are developing a strategy for recruitment, practice and game time. Their seasons will begin in November. All games will be webcast on cybersportsusa.com. The NIAC Conference Tournament will take place February 2014 with Oak Hills Christian College being the host.
Shakopee Mdewakanton Announces Six Lifesaving Courses
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has announced six American Heart Association (AHA) courses starting in June 2013, offered by the Mdewakanton Emergency Services department. Classes are open to the public and are held in the training room in Fire Station 1 across from Mystic Lake Casino on the SMSC reservation in Prior Lake.
Mdewakanton Emergency Services is a full-time, professional fire department staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is owned and operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.
To register, go to: www.mdfire.org/education or call 952-233-1077, ext. 223. The classes and dates are listed below:
• Friends & Family CPR – no minimum age. June 5, July 3, August 7, September 4, October 2, November 6, December 4. From 5 to 7 p.m. Cost:?$10.
• Heartsaver CPR, First Aid, & Automated External Defibrillator (AED) – no minimum age. June 28, July 26, August 30, September 27, October 25, November 29, December 27. From 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Cost:?$75.
• Healthcare Provider CPR – must be 18 or older. July 2, September 3, November 5. From 8 a.m. to noon. Cost:?$75.
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) – must be 18 or older. July 15-16, September 16-17, November 18-19. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Those registering for an ACLS refresher only need to attend the second day of the course. Cost:?$300 initial; $150 refresher.
• Basic Life Support (BLS) Instructor Course – must be 18 or older. June 11, August 13, October 15, December 10. From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost:?$200.
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) – must be 18 or older. June 17-18, August 19-20, October 21-22, December 16-17. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Those registering for a PALS refresher only need to attend the second day of the course. Cost:?$300 initial; $150 refresher.
