A Field Day in Portland

Native American games shinny and hot rocks--along with golf, football, and track--were among the sports and activities on offer at NAYA Field Day 2012, an event in Portland organized by Warsaw Sports Business Club (WSBC) members. Sampling these and other activities as they roved the event's ten stations were approximately seventy-five high school students--many of Native American descent--from the NAYA Early College Academy. Each station was staffed by WSBC members and Nike employees who cheered the students on and offered guidance where needed. Providing the dazzle of professional athletics was football commentator and retired player Anthony Newman, who kicked things off with a talk on fitness--and then spent the rest of the day playing flag football with NAYA students. What was the most inspiring moment of the day for event organizer, sophomore Jesse Schwarz? That's easy. It was a comment from Sam McCracken--general manager of Nike N7, a program promoting athletics in Native American communities--whose talk at the WSBC this past March was the original inspiration for the event. "Sam told us that in all the youth events he's been involved with, he'd never seen the kind of excitement and engagement that these kids showed," recalled Schwarz. Plans are already afoot for a second event.