Floyd Herman Ticket is a fixture with the Buckland basketball program, having coached the girls and boys teams since 1982.
But Ticket didn't join the party this year when his No. 1-ranked boys team advanced to the Class 1A state tournament in Anchorage.
He's in Iraq.
Ticket, a sergeant with the Army National Guard, was deployed in July along with two other men from Buckland, a village in the Northwest Arctic Borough near Kotzebue.
This is the first time the 47-year-old Ticket has been deployed in his 27 years of National Guard service, said his wife, Eva. The couple has eight children, including 16-year-old twin brothers Bo and Brent, who play on basketball team.
"It's pretty crazy," said Brent, a sophomore guard. "All the roadside bombings and stuff. I'm real scared about that."
Ticket is stationed near the Kuwait border, his family said. He keeps in touch by e-mail or instant online messaging. For live conversations, Eva and her boys have to stay up or get up at 4 a.m.
"I wish he was here real bad," said Bo, a sophomore forward, who admitted he doesn't get up at 4 in the morning as much as his brother. He mainly e-mails dad.
"They let me know they miss their dad," said Eva. "They know how important it is for their dad to be where he's at. I know he's happy about where he's at and we need to be happy too, because it makes his job easier."
When Floyd was sent off to war, the Ticket family lost the man of the house.
Their home has no running water, Eva said, so water must be pumped and sewage hauled -- something Floyd used to do. Now the whole family chips in.
"I have to do the furnace work and (repair) the snowmachines, so I'm part man," Eva said with a hardy laugh.
Floyd knew he was being deployed to Iraq about a year before he departed. But he kept it a secret from his family, Eva said.
Instead, he started to delegate responsibilities around the house so things would run smoothly in his absence.
"We didn't know he was preparing the family for it," Eva said.
"We don't have (running) water and sewer. The boys have to do the pumping. They have to haul the water in 5-gallon buckets. It was quite an adjustment."
Eva and her boys aren't dealing with this alone. All of the children still live in Buckland. The twins, Bo and Brent, Christian, 14, and Bethany, 4, are living at home and Shawna, 29, Shannon, 28, Floyd Jr., 27, and Garret, 22, have moved out.
"We've always been a close family," mom said.
In addition, Eva said the wonderful people of Buckland, a village of about 500, have given the family incredible support.
In addition to coaching the Buckland basketball team, Floyd has been the Buckland mayor and maintenance man at the school.
"Everybody knows my dad," Bo said.
All three Buckland men deployed -- Sergeant Ronald Skin and Private Sonny Hadley were the other two -- were honored at a potluck in the high school before they shipped out. Nearly 300 people attended and 10-year-old Courtney Hadley sang the national anthem.
"It's one big family," Eva said of Buckland. "I'm not by myself. I have people that come up to me and ask me if I have this or if I need help. That's the kind of community I live in. They really support me and the other families."
Ticket has come home once since he left, returning for two weeks in February. Having him home was heaven, the family said, but saying goodbye was hellishly hard.
"It's heartbreaking," Bo said. "Everybody is down and sad when he takes off."
By corresponding via the Internet, the boys can fill Floyd in on what's new in Buckland and how the basketball teams are faring. Floyd describes life in Iraq.
"He said there are no kids playing outside. The streets are empty," Brent said. "He misses us and wishes he could be here with us."
The 5-foot-8 twin brothers both come off the Buckland bench and each of them said they felt their father's spirit on the basketball court, even though he's on the other side of the planet.
"I think he's watching over us," Brent said.
And while the family wishes he was home, they support his commitment to serve his country and represent his family and Buckland.
"We really feel that what he's doing over there is to defend the freedom for us to enjoy things like this," Eva said, referring to the state basketball tournament.
"This is what he's wanted to do all his life. He feels really proud to serve our country and it means a lot to the family. We're all proud of him and we all support him."
Daily News reporter Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@adn.com or 257-4335.
