By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
Multi-sport athlete and Tulalip tribal member, Tucker Day, has taken up the grid iron challenge. Having already found early success on the baseball diamond as both a pitcher and hitter, the inspiring 11-year-old has swapped his glove and baseball for shoulder pads, a helmet, and a nifty forearm play sheet as a two-way player for the Concrete Lions youth football program.
“After I saw Tucker’s athletic potential and grittiness displayed playing baseball, I asked his parents if he could play football,” explained Lions head coach Arthur Sanchez. “He never played organized football before, but both he and his parents were on board with him playing. He’s shown a lot of potential already. He’s our starting wide receiver on offense and starting cornerback on defense.
“He’s got great hands. He’s got speed. He’s got height. All things any coach would love to have in a pass catcher,” added the longtime football coach. “On defense, he doesn’t shy away from contact, he’s a great tackler. Having never played before, there is still so much for him to learn, but it’s obvious he’s a willing learner and wants to develop his technique on both sides of the ball to benefit his team.”
Tucker’s innate skill and ability on the football field was on full display during a recent jamboree hosted outside Burlington-Edison High School. Youth programs from across Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom counties were invited to the fast-paced football extravaganza. Games typically lasted only 15-20 minutes before teams would rotate and immediately begin playing a new opponent.
The quick turnaround and lack of prep for their opponents made the stakes low and competition high; yielding plenty of moments for Tucker to shine. Casual sideline observers could easily distinguish Tucker from the myriad of other players and teams because of his signature twin braids.
“I’m proud of Tucker for embracing his Native American heritage through his hair,” shared Tucker’s mom, Jerry Davis. “He’s known as the boy with the braid by other baseball teams in our area because he’s a pretty good baseball player and having a braid is something that stands out. I thought it would be cool if he went with two braids for football.”
Living in Sedro-Woolley, one could imagine a boy with a braid is a rare sight, let alone two braids. As Tucker continues to develop his athletic potential in multiple sports, traveling near and far, his braids are something that can always serve as his connection to tribe and community.
In fact, that connection will take on an entirely new meaning come September 7. On that summer morning, Tucker’s Concrete Lions will host the Tulalip Hawks.
“Baseball is my favorite sport. I really wanted to try out for football because it’s a cool sport and some of my teammates from baseball play on this team. I also love running and in football I get to run around, a lot,” said Tucker following the jamboree. “Playing wide receiver is fun because I get to run on almost every play. There are so many routes to run, like posts, slants, and go routes.”
Regardless of which route he’s runing, the desired result is always the same – a catch in the open field with nothing but day light in front of him.