BAJA & FIREBIRDS BALL AT YUMA TOURNAMENT

By Stefanie Camacho

On September 1, 2026, the Fort McDowell Tribal Library hosted a Back-to-School Root Beer Float event, offering free, classic root beer floats to library patrons and attendees.

On September 5, 2026, two teams from the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, the Fort McDowell Baja and the Fort McDowell Firebirds, entered the First Annual Fort Yuma Methodist Church’s Fundraising Chair Volleyball Tournament. Chair volleyball season is in full swing and our players like to get out to play whenever they can. It is especially exciting when tournaments open the age range to 18 and over. That means this reporter can play!

The teams from Fort McDowell played at the Paradise Event Center in Yuma, AZ. In total, fourteen teams signed up to play a double elimination bracket. The games began at 10am with Team Baja playing their first match. They came away with a victory in two matches. They lost their third match, knocking the team into the loser’s bracket where they won the next match but unfortunately lost the next. Team Baja eventually took 5th place in the tournament.

Team Firebirds won their first two matches and then the preceding two games where they eventually fell to Rincon. They ended up taking 3rd place and were awarded grey heathered shirts and a trophy.

Congratulations to both teams for playing hard. We look forward to seeing what they do in the next tournament in Peach Springs on September 18! Stay tuned for results.