PHOENIX — Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren released the following statement after the 2023 Arizona Interscholastic Association 3A high school basketball tournament:
Every year, the Navajo Nation’s high school athletes make a commitment to themselves and their teammates to meet the many challenges they face on and off the court.
They strive to build themselves up, to improve their skills and their game, to be our modern day warriors and to make their families and communities proud.
Today, the Navajo Nation is proud of its young warriors who persevered and reached this level of competition. We came out to show our support, with many also cheering our Navajo players of other teams, and we return proud of our teams.
There were many victories these past few days—our Nation moved together to give our cheers and our wholehearted support for our Chinle, Window Rock and Monument Valley basketball teams. Our Nation came together in a way that only our student athletes can bring about.
Our Nation was, and is, inspired by our teams.
Though these losses may cause you to feel down, we are here to tell you, our athletes, that we are so very proud of you. Your paths forward from here are bright and full of great potential as our role models and future leaders.
We support our student athletes and congratulate all those who made it to the Arizona state high school basketball championship tournament. We’ll continue to cheer our teams here and wherever they compete.
Keep your chin up and keep going forward.
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