SEATTLE – For any athlete in a rural area, the biggest obstacle to success can be exposure. That fact applies to American Indians on reservations.

“The door has never been opened wide enough for Indian athletes,” said Tex Hall, former chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes and the National Congress of American Indians. “Indians can’t get to the pros competing in places like Bismarck, N.D.; unless our youth have financial backing, they won’t make it.”

A new initiative intends to change that.

Tribal representatives from Arizona, California, North Dakota and Washington state met in Seattle May 15 for the first Tribal Sports Law & Business Conference. The conference was organized by Gabe Galanda, Round Valley, and Debora Juarez, Blackfeet, of the Seattle-based law firm Williams Kastner; a second conference is planned for spring 2010 in Phoenix.

Their goal: To encourage Native governments to invest in sports and exposure for their athletes; and to create what Juarez calls a “portal” for young athletes, where they can get the support they need in advancing sports careers.

Conference speakers included Hall; Gina Northover-Moore, owner of Indian Rodeo News; GinaMarie Scarpa and Gyasi Ross, of the Native American Basketball Invitational.

Galanda and Juarez are also promoting tribal expansion into sports ownership as a form of economic development. They say tribal councils, as sovereign governments, can establish athletic commissions to regulate sports on their land, and license and supervise athletes, coaches and promoters.

Native entrepreneurs and governments are establishing a presence in sports. The Tachi Yokut Tribe owns an Arena Football League team. The Mohegan Tribe owns the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. Curt Styres, Mohawk, owns the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League and the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League.

The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation owns a boxing promotion company and has been a major sponsor of the San Diego Padres since 1995. The Oneida Indian Nation of New York’s Atunyote Golf Club has hosted a PGA tournament since 2007. The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians and the Puyallup Tribe have hosted HBO and Showtime boxing. The Seminole Tribe promoted the Seminole Classic Bull Riding Championships on ESPN.

Still, Native athletes with dreams of professional careers have trouble getting mainstream attention that can lead to college scholarships, being scouted, and the advocacy that’s needed along the way.

Hall has walked that road alone.

His prowess as an amateur and collegiate player would get him enshrined in three halls of fame. But when he won a tryout with the Denver Nuggets, the future hall of famer was on his own.

“Other players were accompanied by a coach, a trainer, an agent, a CPA. All I had was a duffel bag and some sneakers. There was nobody to advocate for me. Plus, there was no place for me to go (for help).”

Galanda and Juarez want to provide that advocacy.

Here are the issues, according to Juarez:

• Colleges and pro teams don’t know how to recruit on reservations.

• On reservations, Native athletes play before largely Native audiences. Those athletes have to be given a bigger audience. That’s where investing in competition and promotion, and opening the doors to those audiences, is important.

• Tribal governments need to know there are opportunities out there for their athletes and that there are people who can help.

Randy Aliment, one of four lawyers on Galanda and Juarez’s Tribal Sports and Entertainment Law team, said the goal is “to get those individuals with God-given talents connected to tryouts and college programs and help get them into the mainstream of professional sports.”

Galanda and Juarez say the benefits of investing in sports and young athletes go beyond opportunities for professional careers.

They say sports attract spectators who spend money at casinos, hotels and other hospitality businesses. All the while, Native athletes are given a greater platform on which to shine.

Gaming has pumped unprecedented capital into Indian country, which tribal governments have used to improve education and health care. Sports would further bolster economic diversification and contribute to quality-of-life improvements.

American Indians and Alaska Natives are one of the most underrepresented minorities in NCAA sports. Galanda and Juarez say advocacy will ensure Native athletes get equal opportunity to play collegiate sports and make their way toward the pros.

Others are working to increase opportunities for Native athletes as well.

The Native Voices Foundation – founded by former Olympic skier Suzy Chaffee – is working to create Olympic opportunities for Native athletes. She told Indian Gaming magazine she has identified more than 30 Native hopefuls, but they lack resources needed to guarantee their success.

“Funding travel, training and coaching for Native Americans is key to developing future Jim Thorpes,” she told the magazine. “All children need dreams. Native Americans who achieve Olympic glory are the greatest role models to inspire hope and counter hopelessness and addictions.”

Chaffee, of Sami ancestry, is a member of the Native American Sports Foundation, founded this year to encourage greater Native involvement in sports at all levels. One ambitious effort: Petitioning the International Olympic Committee to recognize a Native American Olympic Committee that would send its own team to the Olympics.

The IOC recognizes 205 Olympic committees, even though the United Nations recognizes 192 nations within its organization, Indian Gaming magazine reported. Among those with Olympic committees: The Chinese territory of Hong Kong, and the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

“Why not a Native American Olympic Committee?” foundation member Josh Henson told the magazine. “American Indian tribes arguably have as much or more sovereignty than many of the National Olympic Committee jurisdictions recognized by the IOC.”

Whom to call: At Williams Kastner, contact Gabe Galanda and Debora Juarez, P.O. Box 21926, Seattle, WA., 98101, (206) 628-2780 or (206) 628-6781, or e-mail ggalanda@williamskastner.com or djuarez@williamskastner.com.

At the Native American Sports Foundation, contact Suzy Chaffee, P.O. Box 64084, Tucson, AZ 85728, (520) 344-9511, or suzynativevoices@aol.com.

Richard Walker is a correspondent reporting from San Juan Island, Wash. Contact him at rmwalker@rockisland.com.