By Micheal Rios, Tulalip News
This past winter sports season, spanning from December to March, dozens of Tulalip youth showcased their athletic prowess on the highest stages of amateur competition. Marysville Pilchuck wrestling and Tulalip Heritage basketball both garnered state-wide recognition enroute to making school history, while other Tulalip high schoolers and middle schoolers showed out in their respective sports and postseason tournaments.
To honor all those athletes who contributed to making the winter campaign unforgettable, the Youth Enrichment division hosted a stirring event at the Youth Center on March 28.
“We had a bunch of local athletes make it to the State level in their sport and thought we would come together to make that good medicine by hosting an honoring and coastal jam,” explained outreach advocate Odessa Flores. “It’s important we, as a community, take the time to hold space for these athletes and their accomplishments.”
Churning out accomplished athletes is something the Reservation has no difficulty doing. It seems like every family has that legendary uncle or auntie who embellishes only slightly when recounting their on-court or on-field domination. You know the ones. They aren’t bashful and will take as much credit as they can for teaching the current crop of players everything they know.
How much impact those old heads have actually had on the amazing athletes of 2025 is somewhere between incalculable and immeasurable. Past generations crawled and walked so the current generation could run. No longer forced to play just on the Reservation, proud Tulalip culture bearers now are fixtures on school teams all around Snohomish County.
Whether attending home school, public school or private school, our Tulalip athletes are excelling in the classroom and keeping themselves eligible to play sports in the fall, winter and spring seasons. More opportunity equals increased exposure and more playing time for youth who dream of playing on the college level.
During the Youth Enrichment event, each attending athlete was wrapped in a blanket before taking to center court. Then the mic came out. One by one, the athletes stated their name, age, and sports played. As they bashfully introduced themselves in front of the large audience, the sentiment was not lost that among them could be the next RaeQuan Battle (men’s college hooper turned pro), Mikail Montez (women’s college hooper), Zues Echevarria (college footballer) or Milo Jones (college wrestler).
Often times, what separates the dreamers from the believers is simple support. Thankfully, the Youth Enrichment division is full of devoted staff members who are committed to supporting Tulalip’s youth and helping turn dreams into reality.
“It makes my heart so full to witness the results of all the hard work our kids put in to better themselves and better their families,” said Odessa. “We created a gratitude tree just for this event so each athlete could add their own leaf that states what they are grateful for. It really represents the deep-rooted impact each of us has on the larger community.”