“Did everyone have fun today?” Asked Maggie Bidasolo, a sophomore sports business major and executive co-director of Youth Movement. It was the end of a long day of playing outside at Papé Field, PK Park and Autzen Stadium.
She was addressing a crowd of kids gathered around her, who unanimously answered with a resounding “Yeah!”
The day was over and though the kids seemed tired, they were still smiling and boisterous as they awaited awards.
About 300 kids came from Native American communities across Oregon, Southwest Washington and California to the University of Oregon on Friday for a field day. Youth Movement, the non-profit organization that hosted the field day, aims to unite young Native Americans to build community and encourage healthy living through sports.
“Our Youth Movement is built on three pillars: sport, education and community,” Bidasolo said. Along with the sports activities, the field day promoted education through language learning, nutrition and art stations while encouraging leadership and sportsmanship, she said.
The organization was started by UO alumnus Jesse Schwarz, now a Nike content strategy manager, in 2012 while he was in the Warsaw Sports Business Club.
Eight years ago, then-sophomore Schwarz was an ethnic studies major who had recently switched from the sports business major at UO. He was inspired when Sam McCracken, founder of the Nike N7 initiative that connects Native American kids with Nike gear to promote healthy living, spoke at a club meeting. He sent McCracken an email with seven ideas of how to expand the organization’s impact and his idea for a field day stuck.
“I still wanted to work with sports, but my focus was really around the power of sport and the transcending ability for sport to change lives, whether it’s through the influence that professional sports has on society or the influence that participating in sports has on society,” Schwarz said.
Youth Movement offers an opportunity for Native American kids to step outside their comfort zones for a day, meet other kids their age and learn about the university. Over the years, it has grown to host events at universities across the country.
The kids, ranging from fifth through eighth graders, began their day at the Many Nations Longhouse on campus, then walked to the EMU Amphitheater for a discussion about the flags surrounding it — each represents one of the nine federally recognized Oregon tribes.
“This is kind of the first opportunity that I saw for Native kids to be represented and celebrated within a community of other Native kids. That goes a long way in my eyes,” said Ryan Vidales, a freshman public relations student and social media coordinator for Youth Movement.
“Seeing a marginalized group and really telling these kids that anything is possible, that you can get out of your comfort zone, coming to the University of Oregon and getting an education is a possibility,” he said. “I think it’s a really big deal.”
From the EMU, the kids left for PK Park. At the baseball field, a number of stations were set up that the groups rotated through, including kickball, capture the flag and nutrition stations.
At lunch, the kids were provided a healthy meal while they heard from guest speaker Schwarz. They relaxed in the bleachers at PK Park until they moved on to their next locations: Autzen Stadium and Papé Field.
In the next set of stations, the field day included traditional Native American sports like shinny, a field hockey game similar to lacrosse originally played by Native people. There was also an art station where kids created buttons and traditional medicine bags.
The Native American Student Union worked with Youth Movement to create a cultural insights team and ensure the activities were culturally appropriate.
“I think at this event, we’re all in college and working to give back to our Native community,” said Allyson Alvarado, a NASU member and Youth Movement volunteer.
At the end of the day, spirit awards were given to kids who showed leadership, sportsmanship, teamwork and spirit throughout the day and all of the participants received prizes.
“This has been one of the craziest days I think I’ve ever experienced, but it’s absolutely incredible,” said Bidasolo. “I wouldn’t change any of this for the joy I’m experiencing today and the lives that we’re impacting.”
An earlier version of this article stated that Sam McCracken of Nike N7 was at the event, but in fact he was not.
