A Place for Crow Kids

Jules Seminole, 18 stands next to Ben Jefferson, Director of Tribal
Youth Planning. Seminole comes to the courts 8-9 times a week to play
basketball. See more photos of the youth complex on Flickr.Photo by Matt Unrau.

By Matt Unrau
CrowNews.Net

Ben Jefferson is a runner. He started running when he was young and now at 64 he’s still exercising to stay healthy. Now he's sharing  the benefits of an active lifestyle with the youth of Crow Agency.

Jefferson took over for Tim Yarlott as the director of tribal youth planning in April 2007 and inherited responsibility for the Apsaalooke Youth Sports Complex on Gas Cap Hill. 

“I wanted to work with the kids, help them get off alcohol and drugs, and make a safe place for them to play,” he said.

The project started a few years ago when about two dozen boys ranging from 9 to 12 years old approached Tribal Chairman Carl Venne with a petition for a new skate park.

Download a diagram of the proposed expansion.

Joshua LaForge, now a 20-year-old student at Little Big Horn College,
was one of the boys behind the petition.  He said they just needed
a place to skate.   “We were sick of pooling all our gas money together
to go to Billings every weekend, and everywhere we went [around Crow
Agency] we were kicked out,” he said. 

As a result of the petition, Venne promised the kids a new skate park in Crow Agency as well as several basketball courts.

Construction began in April 2005 when the Crow tribe settled a trust
accounting lawsuit with the federal government. The lawsuit,
filed in 2002, resulted in a $10 million settlement for the tribe. More than $300,000 of that money was set aside for a youth sports complex.

When Jefferson took over the project two years later, however, there
was much more to do.  Cement for the courts and skate park had been
laid, but the complex didn't have lights, court markings, hoops or a
halfpipe for skaters. Jefferson made up his mind to finish the basketball courts,
skate park and lights by Crow Fair in August.

He told the skaters the new timetable and promised them that it would get done. The boys were skeptical.

Jefferson kept his word, finishing the project in time for Crow Fair.
Now the skaters have a place of their own away from the crowded skate
park in Billings and the prying eyes of the police looking to keep them
off the rails around town.

Typically Jefferson can be found stopping by to turn off the lights
when all the kids have left. At the most he has seen 50 kids there,
but he says usually about 30 will there on any given night.

The project is not finished yet. Plans for two softball fields, a
volleyball court, restrooms, showers, concessions, horseshoe and arrow-throwing
pit are in the works. Jefferson estimates the entire project will ultimately cost $1 million.

The Tribal Youth Planning office is currently searching for grants from
companies around the area, but the project will most likely rely
heavily on support from the tribe. Donations are being
accepted as well.

For the second consecutive year Jefferson has set
August's Crow Fair as the deadline for the completion of the two softball fields as well as the horseshoe and arrow-throwing pit.

Please send all donations to the Crow Tribe and designate them for Tribal Youth Planning.