Current Epson Tour member, Nike N7 ambassador and Texas Tech University alumna Gabby Lemieux (Caldwell, Idaho) recently joined the Game Changers segment on ESPN Radio show Spain and Company hosted by Sarah Spain to discuss more about her #DriveOn story and what it means to be a voice for the Native American community.
“It was really nice to share [my] Drive On message because I feel like I have a different story to tell,” said Lemieux. “To be from a different background, or different ethnicity, is really exciting because even for kids looking up to me who aren't Native American, or are from a different ethnicity [themselves], they can see me and say ‘she persevered and she did a lot of things we probably will have to go through.’”
Throughout her childhood, Lemieux played several sports including co-ed basketball with her family and friends in the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. The more she played golf with her father and older sister, the stronger her passion for the game. Lemieux went on to compete for Texas Tech and was named the 2016 Big 12 Player of the Year. Lemieux also guided the Red Raiders to NCAA Championship appearances on two occasions.
Now in her third season on the Epson tour, Lemieux finds herself using her platform as a pro athlete and Nike N7 ambassador to inform and educate about her Native American heritage and community. Other ambassadors for the Nike N7 fund include 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, The Black Eyed Peas rapper Taboo Nawasha and MLB centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, among others.
“It's a fund committed to getting youth in Native American aboriginal communities moving so they can lead happier and more successful lives,” Lemieux said. “It supports organizations that provide sport and physical activity programs to the youth in those communities. Being young and having my platform for things I really never thought I would ever do, I'm really really grateful to be able to do that.”
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