PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks players and coaches will wear a unique set of footwear Sunday at Chase Field.
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The cleats they donated to the Phoenix Indian Center were hand-painted by Native artists from across the Valley, some as young as second graders, others elders, as part of a new initiative called “Cleats for a Cause” ahead of the team’s Native American Recognition Day.
“It was a neat partnership, because it was really an opportunity for us to reach out to our youth, our young, really passionate artists in the community all the way to our elders,” said Jolyana Begay-Kroupa, CEO of the Phoenix Indian Center. “A broad range of artists who took a pair of cleats and had some time to put some art onto the shoe, a way of storytelling.”
The cleats took approximately four weeks to complete. Players saw the finished designs for the first time just days before Sunday’s game. The footwear will be worn during batting practice and the game before being auctioned off to support community programs.
Arizona is home to 22 Tribal Nations, and Maricopa County has connections to more than 500 Tribal Nations from across the country. Begay-Kroupa said the designs reflect that diversity.
“A lot of the designs have symbolic meanings,” she said. “They’re significant to the many different communities that live here.”
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The Diamondbacks also presented the Phoenix Indian Center with a $10,000 check.
“They’re really utilizing this as a way to help tell the story about our amazing culture that’s very much alive,” Begay-Kroupa said. “We’re happy to allow our baseball players and the Arizona Diamondbacks to allow us to use this platform to tell more about who we are.”
Native American Recognition Day, presented in partnership with Talking Stick Resort, marks 27 years of partnership between the Diamondbacks and Indigenous communities. Sunday’s festivities include an inter-tribal youth baseball and softball parade, a ceremonial first pitch and national anthem performed by members of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and a large on-field performance featuring nearly 200 dancers accompanied by a drum group.
The event also highlights what organizers call the largest all-Native youth baseball and softball tournament in the United States.
Since 1997, the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation has invested more than $100 million in the community.