Tohono O'odham basketball team finds community, advocacy through hoops

The Pima Community College West Campus gym goes silent, and then the drums start again.

They form a circle at midcourt, men and women, chanting and singing a beautiful rhythm that has sustained them for who knows how long? Centuries? Millennia? They are surrounded by a living, breathing rainbow of women, dancing and bobbing to the music, floor-length skirts of all colors pulsating to the beat, with ornate baskets, proudly held high, thrust into the air.

It is halftime of the 6 p.m. showdown at the Native American Classic basketball tournament between Tohono-O’odham Community College — whose head coach, Matt Vargas, conceptualized, scheduled and executed the event for the second straight year — and Salt Lake Community College, the defending national champions.

http://tucson.com/sports/local/tohono-o-odham-basketball-team-finds-community-advocacy-through-hoops/article_ea5498c7-5673-57db-be24-23ee7c26022e.html