BY BRITTNEY BENNETT
EDITOR
TAHLEQUAH - Day of Champions Sports and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians are teaming up on June 8 to give community boys and girls ages 8-18 the opportunity to enhance their athleticism and wellness through “Keetoowah Fit: Sports and Wellness Day.”
“Keetoowah Fit is a day for all children in our communities to come together and either advance their sports skills or become interested in taking ownership of their health,” said Travis Wolfe, Special Projects and Events Coordinator. “They will do this while learning from elite coaches past and present who have either coached or played at the collegiate or professional levels.”
The event is free and check-in will take place at Maryetta Football Field at precisely 8:30 a.m., with activities beginning at 9 a.m. Water and lunch will be provided to all participants and activities will end at 3 p.m.
Registration will take place on the day of the event.
“This year the registration for the event will be a little different than past years. We wanted to streamline the registration process and make it easier on our Keetoowah families to participate,” said Wolfe. “There will be no pre-registration this year, but if families want to get an early start and pick up a registration form, those will be available starting May 6 at the Community Services Building and online on our website's homepage under events at www.ukb-nsn.gov.”
Day of Champions Sports is managed by President and CEO Coach Ken Heupel, who has more than 20 years of coaching experience at the NCAA level and will lead the camp.
His mission is to teach children the Four Principles of Leadership: discipline, respect, trust and hard work. Through these qualities, he works on equipping individuals to reach their full potential on and off the field.
He has done this in his own life with his son, Josh Heupel, a former national championship winning quarterback at the University of Oklahoma and current head coach at the University of Central Florida.
“Coach Heupel has been an honored partner now for many years and has shown he truly cares about our communities and Native children,” said Wolfe. “His personal mission has always been to get tribal children access to opportunities they otherwise might not get. He also enables them to open up to the world of sports and develop a better mindset of health
and wellness. The partnership between UKB and Day of Champions gets better with each year.”
A common misconception about the event is that because the coaches carry an expertise in football, the camp will only focus on the one sport. However, Wolfe said this is not the case.
“The forefront is football, but it is not the sole focus,” he said. “The coaches are football coaches, but they are ready to teach children a variety of skills including strength, conditioning, speed, agility, nutrition and life skills. These skills can be applied to life and whatever sports the children are interested in. They will also learn various elite skills and techniques that can help them get ahead.”
The event will take place at the Maryetta Football Field on June 8. The field is located at 100 Maryetta Rd., in Stilwell. For more information, contact Travis Wolfe at 918-871-2800.
