Spring Break at This Year’s Arctic Winter Games
By Kevin Huo
On March 13th, 2024, a student media team consisting of Kevin Huo (General Manager of KSUA), Manny Melendez (Staff Reporter, The Sun Star), Mike Degen (Freelance Reporter, The Sun Star), and Autumn McPherson (Staff Photographer, The Sun Star) traveled together to volunteer and report on the Arctic Winter Games taking place. The Arctic Winter Games, in short, is a circumpolar competition containing athletes from across the world's northern regions. The Arctic Winter Games are no small feat, consisting of twenty sports, 2,000 athletes, and eight continents. The teams represented at this year's games included Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Alberta North, Nunavut, Nunavik-Quebec, Kalaallit Nunaat, and Sapmi.
The Arctic Winter Games are a way to bring together athletes of all ages to participate in a range of winter sports and indoor sports. Winter sports include traditional Arctic activities such as Dene games and snowshoeing and more conventional sports such as cross-country skiing, ice hockey, curling, and figure skating. Indoor sports include futsal, basketball, table tennis, gymnastics, and volleyball. The sporting competitions themselves are opportunities beyond the competition to promote cultural exchange amongst diverse peoples coming from across the Arctic. Unlike any other competition, this unique event brings in a sense of commonality, showcasing the resiliency of Arctic communities and their similar adaptability to challenging winter conditions and a platform to celebrate their rich heritage.
As a team representing UAF Student Media, our role in this year’s Arctic Winter Games was to conduct journalistic reports on the sporting events. Our daily submissions were provided to the Ulu News media coverage hosted by the Arctic Winter Games.
In the following section, you will find select notes from GM Kevin’s observations at AWG:
MARCH 13 - On the first day after arriving in south-central Alaska, GM Kevin, alongside a few friends from the area, visited Palmer Middle School to attend a Team Alaska vs Alberta North volleyball matchup. It was a fantastic matchup that was highly anticipated between two competitive teams. A flurry of incredible digs, powerful hits, and accurate serves came from both sides. Set 1 went back and forth, with Alberta North leading. Throughout the competition, Team Alaska had strong support, being the local team, with roars of cheers for ‘O-U-T’s’ and even ‘Go Alaska, go Alaska, go.’ The teams were in sync even from the very first set. From the intense focus on each play to the energy from the crowd, it sure was a lively game to watch. As the match progressed, scores ebbed back and forth.
On the sidelines, Coaches Emily Moorehead and Coach Cate Whiting, both Nanook Volleyball Alumni, coached the Alaskan team from the sideline with adjustments to each play and tips on improving. In Set 1, Team Alaska pulled away from Northern Alberta to win the first set. Set 1 - 25 AK / 19 NA - Alaska wins set. In the second set, as more fans of the Arctic Winter Game entered the gym, the clapping and screaming echoed through the hallways. Big blocks from number 9 from Team AK and thunderous hits from number 7 from Northern Alberta kept the game close. Set 2 - 18 AK / 25 NA - Northern Alberta wins set. In the final set, Alaska pulled away to win.
After a long travel day, GM Kevin and the student media team returned to their lodgings to prepare for the next day.
MARCH 14 - Starting the day off, Kevin and Autumn arrived at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center to cover the Dene Games. In particular, the two-finger pull. Athletes from across the Arctic listened intently to the instructions from the game's deliberators. All the while, a crowd began to gather. In the background on the indoor field, athletes warmed up, napped, and/or spoke to their coaches on the sidelines, eagerly awaiting their turn to visit the stage for their two-finger pull. The two-finger pull is a very technical competition. Competitors must have their fingernails shortened, and no jewelry must be worn. The two-finger pull is a sport focused on strength, willpower, and focus. Given the short time between competitions, athletes must stay ready. As the competitions began, coaches and teammates gathered around the stage, cheering on their teammates as they competed. The competition itself took several hours and contained finger pull after finger pull.
Shortly after, Kevin and Autumn decided to continue to capture other sporting events in action within the area. The other stops included the Screaming Eagle Archery Range, MTA Center for Curling, and Colony Middle School for Arctic Sports. In a few short sentences, Kevin provides a note on each. At the Screaming Eagle Archery Range, with each arrow tap hitting the target, one could hear a loud thump after thump. Peering out over the balcony at the shooting range, one could tell that each athlete was locked in and focused. The athletes competing, being professionals, could consistently hit the yellow innermost circle of each target. Upon our arrival, the athletes conducted their practice session, wherein they aimed, shot, and prepped for their next shot draw.
Then, following the end of each round of shooting, they pace forward in one straight line to grab their arrows and reset on the line for another round. The next sport that we covered was curling at the MTA Center. In brief, curling competitions were at the mixed stages when we arrived. Athletes from different teams collaborated to curl the curling stone across the ice onto the target. The final sport we briefly covered was Arctic Sports at Colony Middle School. Upon arriving, the one-foot-high kick was about to kick off. Each team gathered up and was preparing to compete. Teams chanted their team mottos and were ready for the competition. The crowds are gathered around all four sides. Each athlete can be seen stretching, high-fiving, warming up, and anxiously getting prepared. Unlike other sports, Arctic Sports is gritty, with each push and kick leading up to one motion and one movement to determine whether or not they move on to the next round. Arctic Sports, like many, require a great deal of support. As the athletes prepped, coaches would approach and provide specific suggestions for improvement. If an athlete cannot perform the kick and hit the target, they must stand up and thank the referees for help. Arctic Sports is a delicate balance between success and failure, which, regardless, leads to applause.
MARCH 15 - We stopped through the figure skating competition on the final day of reporting at the Arctic Winter Games. Please read the article here: https://www.uafsunstar.com/sports/2024-arctic-winter-games-highlights-dazzle-on-the-ice-team-figure-skating-has-a-beautiful-showing-at-the-arctic-winter-games
Student Media appreciates the opportunity to travel to the Mat-Su area to report on this year’s Arctic Winter Games. We look forward to future opportunities to report on events happening in Alaska and the circumpolar north.