Indigenous star player Jude Schimmel inspires next generation at youth basketball camp
Special to the Times | Truman Begaye
Jude Schimmel demonstrates a dribbling drill for the kids during Jude Schimmel’s and Rezilient Training’s Youth Basketball Skills Camp at the Bee Hółdzil Events Center on Monday afternoon.
By Truman Begaye
Special to the Times
FORT DEFIANCE
Former University of Louisville standout and professional basketball star Jude Schimmel spent Monday afternoon doing more than teaching basketball fundamentals at the Bee Hółdzil Events Center.
Alongside Rezilient Training founder RaeAnn West and former head coach Ashley Mitchell, Schimmel led a youth basketball skills camp focused on developing confidence, healthy lifestyles and reminding Native youth that their dreams can reach far beyond the reservation.
“One of the key purposes of this camp was to kind of just get the kids out here,” said Schimmel, a member of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon. “Basketball is a fun sport, but it’s also healthy. Just getting them moving, doing something healthy and having some fun.”
For Schimmel, returning to work with Native youth carries personal meaning.
To read the full article, please see the July 2, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow