Kyle Fossman has decided to permanently bow out of professional basketball, electing instead to settle down in Haines with his wife and start an EMT/firefighter job with the Haines Borough.
Fossman, 23, played his first – and last – season of professional basketball for the Fraport Skyliners in Frankfurt, Germany, from 2014-2015.
Playing for the Glacier Bears, Fossman led Haines High School to its first championship in 2008. They won again in 2010. He was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Alaska, and tallied around 30 points per game at his peak. He then starred at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he torched three-point records.
Fossman said in an interview this week his decision to leave professional basketball stemmed primarily from a desire to be closer to home. A back injury also factored in.
“I’ve been having some back issues which are kind of lingering, and that made it hard to be excited about playing a full season of professional basketball,” he said.
Though his degree from UAA is in accounting and he doesn’t have any experience in the medical field, Fossman said he thinks the EMT/firefighter job will be a good fit.
“It was something that interested me because it gives me a chance to stay active within the community and help people who need it,” he said. “I have confidence I will be able to make people feel comfortable, but like anything, I think it will take understanding that I am new and I need to improve at everything. I am going to be learning.”
Fossman started on the job Sept. 25, filling the spot vacated by Jenn Walsh when she was hired to replace Al Badgley as firefighter and training officer.
Fire chief Scott Bradford said though the borough only received two applications for the EMT/firefighter position, a hiring committee interviewed both applicants and unanimously endorsed Fossman for the job.
“Both of them were about equally skilled, in that they were limited in the emergency medical field,” Bradford said. “(Fossman’s) a local young boy who grew up here. He’s worked extremely hard, he’s committed. We felt that would be a good fit for the fire department.”
Bradford said he came to this conclusion by looking at Fossman’s success on the court and in school – he was valedictorian of his high school class, and secured an impressive GPA at UAA, as well. “That makes for pretty good commitment,” Bradford said.
Though he has given up the game professionally, Fossman will stay involved with the sport on a local level. He hopes to hold more events like the “Back to School Basketball Camp” he led in August, and is currently coaching the junior high boys’ team along with Matt Davis, Tom Faverty and Al Giddings.
With the new job, though, he can’t consider coaching right now on the high school level. “If I can come in and help from time to time I would do that, but I’m not going to be able to be a full-time coach for the high school,” he said.