by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Cedric LaFave completed his senior football season for the Hinckley-Finlayson Jaguars in a 36-20 loss to the Braham Bombers in the recent Minnesota Class A Section 7 game.
“I’m just a young Native American teenager trying to make my family, culture, and community proud by being a great student athlete,” said Cedric.
The versatile athlete chose football over cross country this fall. He chose to play football for his football senior playing friends. “This was a fun season, unfortunately it came to an end,” said Cedric. “I’m glad I came out for football this year and contributed to the team as much as I could this year.”
Cedric is a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. His parents are Vanessa Gibbs and George LaFave III and are both Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe members. They live in Hinckley, Minnesota.
“When I first started playing football, the quarterback got injured in the first game,” said Cedric. “I had to move positions from wide receiver to quarterback. The team and I stepped up and played better. Then in our next game, our quarterback was still injured so I stepped up and started that position and we won our first game. The other seniors and I have been playing football since 5th grade football. So this year our chemistry was really well.”
“During basketball two years ago in the 2017-2018 season, our starting point guard was playing sick in a basketball game,” said Cedric. “So our head coach spoke to me and told me to be ready to play quite a bit and to be ready to step up. This is the game I scored my first varsity points as a sophomore. I had confidence with what I brought to help the team win and fill in for the game.”
Cedric has many athletic accomplishments. “I recently made the Team Minnesota 19U indigenous basketball team that is going to Nova Scotia next July for the North American Indigenous Games,” said Cedric. “My team and I made it to the 2018 State Basketball Tournament and won the consolation bracket in basketball. I set two school records in track and field in the mile: 4:29.01 and two mile: 9:41.78 last spring of 2019 and I made it to the State Track Meet. I made it to the State Cross Country Meet my first time joining Cross Country. I also earned All Conference in basketball, All-Conference Cross Country and All-Conference in Track and Field during the 2018-19 seasons.”
Tribal core values define who athletes are and where they are going. “I am respectful to my teachers and coaches. I want the younger generation to see me as a great role model by getting good grades and being a three-sport athlete. I don’t look at my success like it’s just me doing it, my teammates contribute to my success just as much as I do at being a quarterback and point guard.”
“In the future, I plan to go into college and study in law enforcement,” said Cedric. “I also plan to get on the basketball and track and field team. Athletics helps me out by possibly getting me a scholarship into school or just the schools noticing me in general.”
