The idea of friendly competition isn't just something Native Youth Olympians talk about. It's all they talk about.
"It's weird how competing against someone else will bring you together, but it really does," explained Madeline Ko, who won the two-foot high kick during Friday's competition at the Alaska Airlines Center.
As is custom at the annual cultural and Native games competition, which concludes Saturday, athletes seemingly spent more time making friends with opposing teams and urging on fellow competitors than they did worrying about their own performances. In the final event of Friday's competition, two-foot high kick participants invariably gathered in small groups of athletes from different teams, discussing strategy or giving last-minute hints to their opponents.
The unusual collaboration between athletes is part of what makes the event special, explained Tim Blum, communications director for Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC), which organizes the games with the help of more than 50 corporate sponsors and partners.
"They really help each other out," Blum said.
Kelly Hurd is CITC's director of development. She said the cooperative spirit of the games is a value all Alaskans share.
"People need to work together to survive," she said.
More than 500 athletes from about 50 teams from across Alaska are participating in this year's 45th annual event, which is being held at the Alaska Airlines Center on the UAA campus.
"It's truly a statewide event," Hurd said.
Along with the sporting events, Hurd said there's a cultural expo at the arena as well as cultural and educational performances. She said having the games on the college campus has added a nice touch. On Friday, she said the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program hosted a luncheon for games participants.
"NYO really has an impact on these kids," she said.
Boys two-foot high kick winner Kim Gumera said the games are part social event, part chance to test one's athletic limits.
"I like just meeting people and breaking personal records," he said.
The games are open to all Alaskans, not just Alaska Natives, said Blum. The only requirements are that students are enrolled in grades 7 through 12 in good standing or actively enrolled in a GED program. There's also a junior NYO program for younger kids. In all, about 2,000 youths participate in the program each year, Hurd said.
Events include tests of strength and endurance, and many of the games trace their origins to traditional Native Alaskan hunting and cultural traditions. The two-foot high kick, for example, was a traditional way of signaling a successful hunt, while the seal hop is based on sneaking up on seals on the ice.
Ko and Gumera were among eight champions crowned in four events Friday. Dillingham's Sara Schroeder won the girls' Eskimo stick pull and Anchorage's Tracey Winn won on the boys' side. The event has contestants face each other in a sitting position holding a stick, and whoever rips it away wins. Johanna Boucher of Mount Edgecumbe and Isaiah Charles of Lower Kuskokwim earned titles in the toe kick, in which athletes leap forward from a standing position and quickly tap a stick before leaping again. And Brittany Woods-Orion of Mount Edgecumbe and Joseph Panruk of Lower Kuskokwim won the one-hand reach, which tests competitors' strength by having them stand on the knuckles of one hand and reach high into the air to touch a sealskin ball with the other.
Gumera said the games -- many are raw tests of endurance and stamina -- are an excellent way to hone mental focus.
"It's just about teaching yourself to endure the pain and not break under stress," he said.
Hurd said that's exactly what the games are all about. She said a recent participants' survey found that 90 percent of NYO athletes said they developed new friendships through the program and 70 percent credited NYO with keeping them in school and improving their self confidence.
"There's a lot of foundational values that make the games really important," she said.
Ko said the games are definitely a positive influence on her life.
"I always come away from here feeling good about myself," she said.
The games conclude Saturday with the Indian stick pull, one-foot high kick and seal hop. For more information, visit citci.org.
Native Youth Olympics
Alaska Airlines Center
Saturday's event schedule:
9 a.m. – Coaches meeting
10 a.m. – Indian stick pull
Noon – Pilot bread recipe contest winners
12:15 p.m. – Cultural/entertainment performance
12:30 p.m. – One-foot high kick
3 p.m. – Seal hop
5 p.m. – Closing ceremonies
Friday's results
Eskimo stick pull
Girls – 1) Sara Schroeder, Dillingham; 2) Penny Savea, Anchorage A; 3) Ashely Hoglund, Mat-Su A; 4) Aizah Sullivan, West Valley; 5) Lanette Adams, Northwest Arctic
Boys – 1) Tracey Winn, Anchorage A; 2) Frank Kelly, Mat-Su A; 3) John Koeneman, Mat-Su B; 4) Malaki Barrett, Knik Tribal Council; 5) Peter Christensen, Lake and Peninsula School District
Toe kick
Girls – 1) Johnna Boucher, Mount Edgecumbe, 68 inches; 2) Sydney Dray, Dillingham, 66; 3) Haley O'Brien, Bethel, 62; 4) Alecia Egoak, Lower Kuskokwim, 62 (3 misses); 5) Terry Johnson, Anchorage A, 62 (4 misses)
Boys – 1) Isaiah Charles, Lower Kuskokwim, 84; 2) Cameron Okbaok, Bering Straits, 80 (3 misses); 3) Neil Bucaneg, Unalaska, 80; 4) Derrick Black, Galena, 78 (3 misses/60); 5) Vincent Friday, Lower Yukno, 78 (4 misses/74)
One-hand reach
Girls – 1) Brittany Woods-Orion, Mount Edgecumbe, 56 inches (1 m/56); 2) Izzy Maillelle, Anchorage B, 56 (1m/56); 3) Jocelyn Snyder, Lower Kuskokwim, 56 (1m/54); 4) Sophie Swope, Bethel, 56 (1m/50); 5) Teyah Clark, Mat-Su A, 56 (1m/50)
Boys – 1) Joseph Panruk, Lower Kuskokwim, 64; 2) Alec Bonn, Anchorage A, 62 (0m); 3) Brian Conwell, Unalaska, 62 (1m); 4) Makiyan Ivanoff, Bering Straits A, 62 (1m); 5) John Angaiak, Galena, 62 (1m)
Two-foot high kick
Girls – 1) Madeline Ko, West Valley, 75 inches; 2) Johnna Boucher, Mount Edgecumbe, 74; 3) Julianne Wilson, Kenaitze, 72; 4) Allison Qualls, Mat-Su A, 70; 5) Clara Post, Lower Kuskokwim, 70 (1m)
Boys – 1) Kim Gumera, Unalaska, 92 (1m); 2) Andrew Kashevarof, Anchorage A, 92 (3m); 3) Kristopher Kompkoff, Tatitlek, 90 (2m/90); 4) Zac Martin, Seward, 90 (2m/86); 5) Ray Egoak, Lower Kuskokwim, 88