SPOKANE, Wash. – A 21-hour road trip from New Town, North Dakota is what brought the Brady family back together for their annual Hoopfest trip, complete with folks from across the country.
“Camaraderie is the first word I think of. You don’t know a lot of people, but when you come here, you cheer for each other. Great sportsmanship, it just brings a lot of happiness to our family,” Damon Brady said.
Brady and his family, members of the MHA (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara) nation, consists of five daughters and 11 grandchildren, all the little ones playing in Hoopfest this weekend.
“I enjoy it. I never play with my cousins, now I get to play with them,” granddaughter Brady Wollschlager said. “I’m from North Dakota, and they’re from Washington and Oklahoma.”
Her mom, one of Damon’s daughters, agrees with watching her children be able to play in an event this huge.
“It’s awesome,” Baelie Wollschlager said. “We go to powwows a lot, so this is just like another powwow for us. We all have roles, we all know what to do; it’s just fun.”
Another daughter, Anna Leigh Brady, was a former University of North Dakota basketball player in the mid-2000s, and now coaches her kids.
“What I would speak to is community,” Brady said. “What Hoopfest really brings to the table, for not only my family, but, as you can see, for people all around. So, it means a lot, and it really is a planned event for my family every year.”
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