Team Rancher: Harding County girls work hard, play hard

If you are a Harding County high school athlete, you are a Rancher, whether you like it or not. But in one of the largest and least populated counties in the state, “rancher” is more than just a clever mascot.

Besides wearing the moniker on the purple and gold jersey, most of the kids in the Harding County girls’ basketball program that ended the season as the sixth place Class B team in South Dakota are responsible for pounding staples, checking water, getting cattle, horses and sheep fed, and so much more.

Going into the state tournament, the Harding County Ranchers girls’ team was undefeated – with a perfect 22-0 record. The team ended up in 6^th place at the state tournament after falling to Lyman County, beating Warner and then eventually falling to the Wall team. The Rancher ladies had last played in the state girls basketball tournament 15 years earlier.

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“Harding County kids are really hard workers,” said head coach Jay Wammen, who grew up on a ranch near Reva. “It really has shown in their never-quit work ethic. That starts with the parents at home. You don’t have to tell them to work hard, they already have that instilled in them.”

Wammen said that growing up in this community and on a ranch, he understands the difficulties for kids to attend open gyms in the summer. “My parents said ‘you can make it to town once a week, but not every day.’ I had to pick and choose, and they made it clear there were times I would be needed at home, too.”

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“I told the ranch girls last summer, ‘I grew up on a ranch 42 miles from Buffalo. I know how hard it is to get to camps and other events in the summer. A lot of times you can’t drive those distances, but in those cases you have to be able to work on your own; you still have to be able to improve you game on your own more than the average person,'” he said.

Sophomore Kaylen Padden, from Ludlow, a forward known for her aggressive defense and “bigger than she is” mentality under the basket, has plenty of responsibility at home in addition to practices and games during the season.

“I helped on weekends whenever I could, to help make the week easier for my mom and dad,” said Kaylen. The young lady who is involved in 4-H, music and other extra-curriculars, lives on a sheep and cattle ranch with her parents Kelly and Spring, younger sister Kaydy, and Uncle, Lane, and helps with whatever her family has planned – be it moving cattle or building corrals – on the weekends. Since her family started lambing a few weeks before the season ended, she would take night checks in the lambing barn on the weekends to help relieve her family members, and spend her days at home shuffling sheep through the barn, feeding, watering, working lambs and also helping with household chores.

“When you work on the ranch, you learn how to work as a team, you are exposed to that on the ranch at an early age,” she said. She also believes her tough defensive mentality and hustle is rooted in a hard-working ranchers’ mindset.

Because she knows she’s needed at home, Padden works even harder at her extracurriculars. “I take everything seriously. I know my parents are working extra hard at home so they can travel to my games. I know they want to see me succeed when I’m spending so much time away from home,” she said.

Living about 30 miles from Buffalo means that Padden has to leave the house by a quarter to five for morning practices, but she said that just makes her more efficient with her time, and dedicated to the sport.

Kaylen’s mother, Spring Padden has coached youth basketball for many years, including her own daughters and many others. As a ranch mom, she sees that sometimes her daughters work harder and faster at home on the ranch, knowing they need to complete a task before they leave for a game or practice. “That can work in our favor,” she said.

She adds that, on their family operation, “everything is team work.” I think they know that they have to jump in and help us on the weekends and whenever they are home in order to make it work financially and in order for us all to enjoy it. We make the ranching team ‘work’ and that carries over into sports,” she said.

Ranch kids learn that there aren’t always immediate rewards for their work, said Spring. “They learn to do the work, and eventually they reap the reward – and it might not be something they hold in their hand, it might be memories, or something they learn,” she said.

As a basketball coach herself, Spring has seen that the entire Harding County community values hard work and team work, whether they are ranching families or not. “It’s a mindset – it’s beneficial to the whole team,” she said.

Claire Verhulst and her sister Bailey travel about the same distance, but they are driving to Buffalo from the south. Cory and Tatania Verhulst parent the scrappy duo.

“Usually in the morning, we wake up about an extra hour early to get our goat chores done, feed our horses and such,” said Claire, a senior. “On the weekends, we help dad and mom with feeding and other jobs.” The heifers had started to calve the end of the season, so the girls would help check cattle and take care of other tasks as needed.

Claire, the team’s point guard and three-point shooter, said growing up on a ranch taught her accountability and responsibility and teamwork. “I have five sisters, so it’s not always the easiest working with all of your sisters, but it teaches you a lesson of working hard.”

One aspect of teamwork that ranch life might help with is mental toughness. “When you are working on a ranch, you’re not always told good job. You know you did it well and your parents are proud of you, but they might not say it,” she said. “That helps you learn how to handle certain situations.”

The team that included so many like-minded ag girls meant they didn’t back down easily, have a tough mindset, and play through injuries when possible, said Claire.

Bailey Verhulst said her parents made it to every game this year, but that she has known since she was small that “ranching comes before basketball.”

“Working hard on the ranch, having tough parents telling you what you’re doing wrong – when you get out on the floor and you have a coach telling you how to get better, it doesn’t bother you,” she said. “They are just trying to help you get better; you aren’t going to be mad about it.”

“You play tough and you play hard, I think that comes from working on the ranch from the time you are young,” said Bailey, who is known for her stamina, quickness and confidence.

Kelsi Costello, another junior, and one of the team’s smallest players, said she wakes up early to check water in the winter before school, and she helps on the weekends with anything her parents need. “I like to ride along with my dad a lot and do whatever he needs help with on the weekends,” she said. Jake and Holly are Kelsi’s parents.

Being a ranch kid helps with the mental aspect of the game, she said. “You have to go through your own hardships, be a problem solver, and you learn that you have to get the job done no matter what. I think the no-quit attitude is the biggest thing. I think working on the ranch until the job is done helps me and my friends with our no-quit attitude on the court.”

Costello doesn’t have to attend all the summer workouts because her coach knows she’s building her muscles in other ways. “I think in the area we are, the girls on the team are tough anyway,” she said. “Our hands are a little rougher than everyone else’s.”

Two more sisters travel a distance across some desolate country to get back and forth to school – and practice – throughout the winter. Jaelyn and Macy Wendt transferred from Newell High School to Harding County High School this year, and they make the 45 minute drive each day from home and then back again.

Jaelyn, a 6’2″ senior, is usually the driver, but her sister, a freshman, can take the wheel if necessary.

“Growing up on the ranch, you learn preparedness, time management,” said Jaelyn. “Working on the ranch is basically one big team, all the time. It’s a family thing,” said the daughter of JayDe and Lisa Wendt.

“On the basketball court, there are a lot of things that have gone on behind the scenes to make those things happen. I think that’s the important thing, a lot of unselfishness goes into those aspects. There have been a lot of sacrifices made, to get us to practice, games and such. But I think it’s been worth it in the end,” said Jaelyn.

Bailey pointed out that she and several other players on the team, including Claire, Kelsi, Jaelyn and Macey also compete in high school rodeo and some of them even took part in the elite 20X rodeo, which takes place during the Black Hills Stock Show and also during – yep – basketball season.

“We were working on trying to get ready for rodeo but also working on basketball. It takes a strong work ethic for all of us to do that in the same month, and be successful. Most of us did pretty well at the rodeo, too,” she said.

The rancher basketball team includes many more young ladies who live on or work on ranching operations.

Said Kaylen Padden: “Working on the ranch makes you tough. You don’t give up as easily. You have a lot of endurance.”