Mesa softball team, N7 host recognition games
Courtesy photo
Left to right, Renee Ramos (Pascua Yaqui), Alyssa Matus (Pascua Yaqui), Ariana Sanchez (Arapaho), Nikki Begay (Diné/Zuni/Apache), Brittany Walkingstick (Cherokee) and Marisa Vallejo (Yaqui) are the six Native Americans who play for the Mesa Community College Thunderbirds softball team. They played in the inaugural American Indian Recognition softball games over the weekend while sporting the Nike N7 jerseys.
FRUITLAND, N.M.
Mesa Community College’s ties to the Nike N7 program keep getting stronger.
For the second time in an academic year, MCC collaborated with Nike N7 to host the inaugural American Indian Recognition softball games, where the Thunderbirds softball team showcased the Nike N7 turquoise uniforms, this past Saturday in Mesa, Arizona.
American Indian Institute Program advisor Sam Stevens, who helped organize the event, said it was a success.
“It was a great event, it was very well attended,” he said. “The school, the athletic department even gave away a free barbeque … it was a really fun day.”
In the doubleheader, Mesa took on South Mountain Community. The teams split with Mesa winning the first game 13-12 and South Mountain winning the second, 7-3.
Native American dancers and entertainers performed before the game.
Stevens said it was an event that snowballed from winter sports, when the Mesa men’s and women’s basketball programs were selected to wear the famed Nike N7 jerseys for the first time in school history.
They were the only junior college to take part in in initiative and over the weekend they were the first junior college softball team wear the Nike N7 jerseys.
The Nike N7 brand aims to inspire Native American and Aboriginal youth to participate in sports and be active.
Stevens said he saw that other softball teams were wearing the jerseys and reached out to see if their softball team could as well and eventually got the nod.
“We said, ‘Why don’t we do it for softball?’” Stevens said. “The thing that kind of tipped it off was that we had six kids on the team who are Native kids. We were, like, ‘It’s even more reason to do this.’”
The six Native players on the team include Renee Ramos, Pascua Yaqui, Alyssa Matus, Pascua Yaqui, Ariana Sanchez, Arapaho, Nikki Begay, Diné/ Zuni/ Apache, Brittany Walkingstick, Cherokee, and Marisa Vallejo, Yaqui.
Begay, a sophomore, said it was an honor to be able to take part in the event and to wear the turquoise jersey.
“I think it was awesome,” she said. “I think it’s really cool, just kind of being Native American, just getting recognized.
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