By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
From November 4-6, the Tulalip Youth Center hosted the 1st annual Rep Your Tribe basketball tournament. Sponsored by Tulalip Youth Services, this tournament put a unique spin on the idea of reppin’ for your tribe. There was a men’s and women’s bracket, and in order to qualify as a team all players had to be from the same tribe.
Tribes from across Washington State made the journey to Tulalip in order to rep their tribe and do battle on the hardwood. Lummi, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Colville, and of course the hosting Tulalip Tribes were among those who participated.
After a weekend’s worth of inner-tribal battles, it was the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation who stood tallest, having a team on both the men’s and women’s side reach the Championship game.
On the men’s side, Colville defeated Lummi in the Championship game. While on the women’s side, it was Puyallup earning the victory over Colville.
“This tournament was a very exciting one. We had a lot of very close games, but overall the sportsmanship between the teams was awesome,” says Lonnie Enick, Activities Specialist for Youth Services. “I think also it brings all the tribes closer to each other and, as a team, it brings family and friends together. Looking forward for the 2nd annual Rep Your Tribe, as of now Colville has the bragging rights. Also, great job to the Youth Service staff Darcy Enick, Shawn Sanchey, Sheena Robinson and Josh Fryberg.”
