Sacred Hoops Podcast – Willingness to Compete
Sacred Hoops Podcast – Overcoming Obstacles
Sacred Hoops Podcast – Culture
Sacred Hoops Podcast – Mental Approach
Sacred Hoops Podcast – Adversity
Mount Marty College Announces Partnership with Sacred Hoops
YANKTON, SD — Mount Marty College (MMC) recently announced a partnership with Sacred Hoops, a South Dakota based basketball academy, that will foster opportunities for South Dakota athletes to achieve their goals both on the court and in the classroom.
As part of the agreement, Sacred Hoops athletes who go on to play any collegiate sport at MMC will be awarded an automatic $16,000 (minimum) scholarship. The scholarships, which are subject to student fulfillment of MMC’s admission requirements, are renewable for four years and have a minimum net value of $64,000.
MMC Athletic Director, Chris Kassin, says the agreement is a fantastic opportunity for the Lancers. “We’re always looking to partner with organizations who share our mission and core values,” explains Kassin. “Our goal is to provide talented athletes from across the region with the chance to continue their co-curricular activities while they get a quality degree, so the partnership with Sacred Hoops was an obvious choice.”
Sacred Hoops Basketball Academy provides individualized training and competitive tournament opportunities for South Dakota basketball players who want to improve their game. The program currently serves male and female athletes from across the state with headquarters in Sioux Falls, Aberdeen, Pierre, and Rapid City. The program has more than 32 summer basketball teams and does more than 150 high school program workouts in the off-season, along with various types of skill workouts, coaching clinics, and humanitarian events.
Sacred Hoops Director, Allan Bertram, believes the partnership is another way to help students pursue their athletic dreams. “Our organization focuses on helping athletes from all parts of our region, and it’s so important for us to do this with organizations that share our Mission and Vision,” says Bertram. “We are very proud and blessed to be able to partner with Mount Marty College to promote post-secondary education and give young people the opportunity to participate in athletics at the collegiate level.”
Mount Marty College offers a variety of in-demand majors including education, nursing, science, business, and criminal justice degrees. To learn more about academic programs and scholarship opportunities at MMC visit www.mtmc.edu. To learn more about Lancer athletics visit mmclancers.com.
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Founded in 1936 by the Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery, Mount Marty College is a Catholic, Benedictine school of higher education located along the bluffs of the Missouri River in Yankton, South Dakota, with additional locations in Watertown and Sioux Falls. Mount Marty offers undergraduate and graduate degrees with particular focus on student and alumni success in high-demand fields such as health sciences, education, criminal justice, business, accounting, recreation management and more. A community of learners in the Benedictine tradition, Mount Marty emphasizes academic excellence and develops well-rounded students with intellectual competence, professional and personal skills and moral, spiritual and social values. To learn more, visit www.mtmc.edu.
Sacred Hoops to Host Inaugural AAU All-Native National Basketball Championships
First-ever event will be held in Rapid City, South Dakota in June of 2019
SIOUX FALLS, S.D – In a continuing effort to expand the game of basketball in South Dakota, the Sacred Hoops Basketball Organization is pleased to announce it is partnering with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to host an AAU All-Native National Championships basketball tournament for Boys and Girls in Rapid City, South Dakota in June of 2019, with Rapid City Central High School being the host facility.
This news comes after Sacred Hoops Director Allan Bertram had meetings with AAU National Basketball Board Members at the AAU National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. While exact dates of the tournament have yet to be announced, a preliminary date of June 14, the second week in June, has been set.
“The ability to provide a national championship tournament affiliated with the top amateur basketball organization in the world to Native Americans across the country is something we are extremely proud of,” said Sacred Hoops Director Allan Bertram. “Basketball is so special for Native American athletes throughout the country and we eagerly anticipate hosting the event and crowning national championship teams.”
Since its inception in 1888, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) has set the standard for amateur sports in the United States with one goal in mind: “Sports For All, Forever.” The organization continues to expand its event programming across the country.
“Supporting this first-ever All-Native National Championship program is a no-brainer for the AAU,” said AAU President/CEO Dr. Roger J. Goudy. “This first venture into an All-Native National championship will become a standard to showcase athletes from across the country and provide an opportunity to play on the biggest of stages.”
Overall, the partnership between Sacred Hoops and the iconic AAU organization will positively impact participants lives on and off the court.
“The game of basketball is so special for the youth on our Reservations and this will bring a legitimate opportunity to play in a prestigious National Championship.” said Sacred Hoops Director Allan Bertram. “In addition, the hope is this high-level tournament will provide further opportunities for athletes who wish to continue their post-secondary education.”
ABOUT THE AAU:
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is one of the largest- non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the country. As a multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports programs. Founded in 1888 to establish standards and uniformity in sports, the AAU philosophy of “Sports For All, Forever” is now shared by nearly 700,000 members and 150,000 volunteers across 41 sports programs and 55 U.S. districts. For more information, visit www.aausports.org.
Local Athlete Talks about Experience with Sacred Hoops
Ravyn Hoffman, a senior point guard for Dell Rapids High School, sat down and talked about her summer and lessons learned playing for the Sacred Hoops All Native 17U Basketball team. Her mother, Stacy Hoffman also commented on the program.
Sacred Hoops is hoping to raise enough funds to have not only the All Native Girls Program, but to expand to an All Native Boys Program for 14U, 15U, 16U, and 17U. Sacred Hoops was founded early in 2018 and was the dream of Allan Bertram, Matthew Rama, Eldon Marshall and others to give Native American girls the same opportunity as Caucasian girls have. Bertram had told Big Sioux Media back in the spring, “When we looked at putting a program together, we looked at who had the least amount of opportunities to showcase their basketball talent. We understood it was two groups, high school girls and Native American teens. We combined the two and started the All-Native Girls Program.
Coached by Amanda Carlow, the 17U girls had 10 girls from Pine Ridge, Todd County, Red Cloud, Sturgis, Hardin, MT, and Hoffman from Dell Rapids.
Sacred Hoops TryOuts and Camps
Winter Team Tryouts: Grades 5th – 8th Boys and Girls
- Sioux Falls: August 19th, 25th & 26th, September 9th
- Rapid City: August 26th & 27th & September 9th
ELITE HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE
- Dates: September 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th October 7th, 14th
- Time: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Each team will play 1 game per week.
- Boys:
Grade 9 & 10
Grades 11-12 – ***INVITE ONLY - Games will be played in Sioux Falls.
- Cost: $108.00
Teams will consist of 8 players. Each team will play 1 full college game. Players will compete against the best players from the state. We will divide teams up based on positions and a fair level of play.
- Gr. 9-10 will play first 2 games/ Gr. 11-12 will play last 2 games
- All based on 32 athletes for 9-10/ 11-12
Contact Sacred Hoops for questions
https://sacredhoopsbasketball.com/
WORKOUTS
Each workout will be 1 HOUR in length.
- 1 ON 1: $35.00
- 2 – 4 ATHLETES: $20/player/hour
- 5 OR MORE ATHLETES: $15/player
- 10 OR MORE ATHLETES: please email us for pricing