Showing inspiration: Four Winds assistant coach wishing to leave positive impact

FORT TOTTEN — The Four Winds football team goes through a usual football routine, similar to their opponents.

Pregame stretching, throwing and running are common occurrences. The unique aspect comes in what follows. As the clock begins to wind down right before pregame ceremonies start, the Indians huddle up and begin to chant in preparation for the game ahead.

Leading the chorus, bunkered in the middle of the mass, stands Farin Liggett. And as each word echoes around the football field, the assistant coach is helping accomplish one goal he has wished to tackle from the start.

To make a difference.

Liggett calls Devils Lake (where he was born in 1992) and the Spirit Lake Nation home. His mother’s side of the family originated from the latter. After living the first few years of his life in Devils Lake, Liggett and his family relocated to their roots.

Liggett soon began to face adversity.

“I come from a past where I was severely bullied a lot when I was a child,” Liggett said. “I was picked on. I was kind of a more heavyset kid. Kind of, in a way, unique. I was unique in my own way. And not a lot of kids that I rode the bus with or even went to school with (cared) for that."

But Liggett did not waver. After playing sports through high school — including as a member of the 2007 and 2009 Devils Lake football teams that made significant playoff noise — Liggett went on to drop weight and attend a collection of local colleges before finishing with an associate degree as a fitness technician from Lake Region State (2013-14) and a bachelor’s in fitness and wellness from Mayville State University in 2016.

After graduation, Liggett wished to long for a job that prioritized healthy lifestyles and, more importantly, emphasized helping those in need, especially youth.

Liggett went on to find that job through the Sacred Life Center, where he is a lead health fitness specialist. Fast forward five years later, and Liggett is the center’s longest full-time employee.

To Liggett, the job has provided him an opportunity to mentor and raise awareness.

Wishing to motivate those around him for the better and erase stereotypes has always been a go-to goal.

“I focus on the youth,” Liggett said. “I’m a huge youth mentor. I’m really, really big on trying to better the Spirit Lake Nation youth because of what it’s labeled as … Like most of these kids will go to high school, then they kind of just give up on life and kind of just settle for less.

I do this after-school program at the Sacred Life Center, where I work full time, and I even dedicate a lesson to bullying awareness to be, like, ‘That’s not cool to do, and that’s not fun.’ It always takes into consideration other kids’ beliefs and their feelings because each one of us is built uniquely and differently.”

In addition to his experience as a health fitness specialist and assistant coach, Liggett has additional experience as a Devils Lake youth football coach and CrossFit instructor.

Combining all the jobs and responsibilities — not to mention taking care of duties at home as a father of two and soon-to-be three — one would expect burnout to be a real possibility.

But not to Farin. The opposite, in fact. The juggling of jobs has only driven Liggett to strive for more.

“To manage all these jobs, at times, can be very overwhelming,” Liggett said. “But I enjoy every single thing that I do, so I really don’t feel like I work a day in my life.”

Liggett’s goals transcend what he does currently. Goals of wanting to coach football at the University of North Dakota or North Dakota State University are still livelier than ever. Or perhaps as a fitness coordinator for a big-name gym, too.

Another goal of Liggett is to help become a role model, especially for the youth. To Liggett, wishing to give every individual respect and positive vibes can allow them to not go through what he did during childhood.

“I’m not asking to be their father figure,” Liggett said. “But I am asking to be their role model because I want them to do something with their life when they can look back and say, ‘Oh wow, coach Farin helped me get to where I am.’ That is what keeps me going. I want to keep giving back.”

Whether in Devils Lake, the Spirit Lake Nation or anywhere in between, Liggett yearns to make every day count and leave a positive impact after every interaction.

“I go for the people,” Liggett said. “If I miss a day of work, even when I’m sick, I feel bad because that’s just one person that I could’ve helped out today at our fitness facility. Or, if I miss football practice, that’s one day I missed out that I could’ve helped multiple kids become a better athlete.”

This article originally appeared on Devils Lake Journal: Farin Liggett looking to accomplish goals, provide positive impact