Basketball has been put on hold as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across Native American reservations.
Many professional sports organizations are doing everything they can to get teams back in the action.Kids dribble balls on dirt courts and shoot at makeshift rims on some reservations while tournaments are held in state-of-the art buildings on others. Players and fans may travel hundreds of miles to play and watch games of “Rez ball,” the fast-paced, no-shot-is-a-bad-one version of hoops played by Native Americans. The game also brings already tight communities even closer.
The close-knit nature of Native American life has led to some devastating consequences on reservations, particularly in the Southwest. The tribe has been aggressive in trying to fight the virus, including instituting curfews and continuing to educate people about the dangers. On reservations without many resources, kids play in the dirt while shooting at rings attached to poles with balls of fabric wrapped in tape, if no real ball is available.
Native American fans also are known for traveling long distances to watch basketball, whether it’s a regional or national Native American tournament or a showdown between top high school teams. Hundreds of Navajo fans used to bus hours from the reservation to Tempe to watch Ryneldi Becenti play at Arizona State in the 1990s before she went on to become the first Native American to play in the WNBA.
For players, it’s one of the biggest recruiting weeks of the year, a rare chance to play in front of coaches from junior colleges and NAIA schools. The NABI Foundation also has awarded nearly $300,000 in scholarships through the years.
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