In Navajo Nation, athletes use airport strip to train
With school facilities still not available to use because of Navajo Nation orders during the pandemic, Tuba City found a creative outlet to get ready for the football season.
The Warriors are working out on a dirt airport strip three days a week.
A parent was able to grade the sandy strip to keep from too many turned ankles on the rocks and pebbles.
But the footing is difficult.
“We all got scars on our body from slipping,” senior running back/linebacker Xander Mitchell said. “We’re making good progress in practice, though.”
Tuba City has been working out at the old airport for a couple of months now, a plea from the players after having all of the 2020 AIA football season canceled by the Navajo Nation due to COVID-19.
The Navajo reservation was hit hard by the coronavirus, at one point being the biggest hot spot in the world about a year ago.
Only Window Rock and Monument Valley on the Navajo Nation have been allowed back to their campuses for team workouts. But Tuba City still is waiting for government approval.
Kayenta Monument Valley had to cancel its annual 7-on-7 passing tournament but on June 10 got the green light to return to activities on campus. Fort Defiance Window Rock is hosting a 7-on-7 passing tournament on July 17.
By then, Tuba City hopes to be back in its own digs.
In the meantime, coach Vincent Lee, with no field and no weight room, listened to his players and gave them what he could, forming a club team of Tuba City players working out at an airport about six miles west of the town.
This is Lee’s third year at a rebuilding program, including last year when there was no season.
“This spring, my players expressed a desire to practice,” Lee said. “So, I started a private football club to work with my players and work around the NN Executive Order.”
Lee said the airport is not ideal, because it is sandy, but is grateful for the parent who used his tractor to grade it. They use orange cones to mark it. “My coaching staff and players are making the best of the situation,” Lee said. “We are in and are working hard to get prepared for the upcoming season. We do not know when we will be able to start using our facilities, but we will continue to work and get better. “
Tuba City sent its “club” team to Holbrook in June for a 7-on-7 tournament.
The Warriors took their lumps against teams that have been working together for more than a year now.
But it was a start, something the Navajo Nation athletes have been craving to whet their sports appetites.
About 15 players on average have been coming out for workouts.
“It was actually my idea,” senior offensive lineman Casey Draper said. “I remember bringing it up after the season was canceled.
“My coach just wanted to get an advantage. We haven’t worked out in so long. We had to do our own thing because the other sports are doing things. There’s always basketball tournaments in Phoenix.
“The women’s sports, basketball and volleyball, are doing tournaments. We thought, ‘We should have our own practices and workouts.’ We’re not allowed to use any of our facilities so we had to find something.”
Players don’t get into three-point stances, because of the rocks and pebbles. It hard to cut and run full speed, so they’ve learned to slow down and figure a way to run plays against each other.
“Traction is pretty hard,” Draper said. “It’s all hard pack. Cleats don’t help. Running plays are hard. You can’t go as fast as we usually do. We have to compensate for the hard-pack dirt.
“A lot of drills you would do on the ground, on the grass, you can’t do that with the hard rocks and pebbles.”
Lee and his players are hopeful to be on the grass soon at Tuba City.
“The rules around here at the reservation are changing, especially recently with the vaccination,” Draper said. “We’re betting on it and counting down the days until official season starts. We’re confident by July.”