Williams Kastner’s Tribal Sports & Entertainment Team hosted the inaugural Tribal Sports Law & Business Conference – “Indian Country Goes Pro!” – in Seattle, on Friday, May 15th.
“Indian Country’s talented athletes and sports opportunities are widely ignored by society,” said Debora Juarez (Blackfeet), a member in the firm’s Seattle office and Chair of the Tribal Practice Group said. “Our tribal sports advocacy will encourage Indian people to use athletics to counter-attack challenges facing tribal youth like drugs, alcohol, gangs and teen suicide.”
The seminar’s keynote speaker was Tex Hall, former Chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, who has been inducted into the North Dakota Amateur Basketball Hall of Fame, the National Indian Athletic Association Hall of Fame, and the Minot State University Bottineau Athletic Hall of Fame. “The door has never been opened wide enough for Indian athletes,” Chairman Hall said. “Indians can't get to the pros competing in places like Bismarck, North Dakota. Unless our youth have financial backing, they won't make it.” He issued a clarion call for Indian Country to create larger platforms for reservation athletes, primarily through financial support.
In Hall’s honor, Williams Kastner donated all proceeds of the event to the Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI). Hall is a NABI Board member.
Other speakers included: Gina Northover-Moore, owner of Indian Rodeo News, on Indian rodeo promotions; GinaMarie Scarpa and Gyasi Ross (Blackfeet), both of NABI, on NABI’s inspirational efforts; Justin Ruggieri, in-house counsel for the Tohono O’dham’s Desert Diamond Casino, on tribal athletic commissions; and Randy Aliment and Anthony Broadman of Williams Kastner, on tribal sports agency and franchise ownership, respectively.
Each speakers’ words and images were captured via a live blog at https://twitter.com/IndianSports.
