Hardin Public Schools

Cindy Farmer has been coaching and teaching for 40 years—28 of those at Hardin High School—where she leads the cross country, track & field, and girls’ basketball programs. Students flock to her teams because of the culture she has built: a safe, welcoming, and fun place to belong. Many of the students at the school and on her teams come from the Crow Indian and Northern Cheyenne Reservations, where many families face complex challenges, including substance abuse, gun violence, single-parent households, and parental incarceration. Student-athletes want to feel they are part of something and truly needed, and Coach Farmer’s teams provide that sense of belonging—a second family.

Her program holds athletes to high standards and instills discipline, but accountability is paired with care and trust. Athletes know they are safe, supported, and deeply valued. Coach Farmer takes the time to get to know each student and understand the challenges they face, using sport as an outlet to release their worries and experience joy. She pays for much of her athletes’ gear out of her own pocket and partners with local stores to secure additional equipment at reduced cost—or free to her students. To her, her players aren’t just athletes; they are her children.