Eighth grader Maddox Rogers, 14, competes in the scissor broad jump on April 2 at the 2022 Traditional Games in Juneau. Rogers set a new record for his age group of 26 feet and 7 3/4 inches.
For the first time in Haines School history, seven middle school students, all eighth graders, competed last weekend in the Traditional Games in Juneau, a regional Native Youth Olympics competition.
But they didn’t play like rookies.
Haines student Maddox Rogers won the middle school boys’ scissor broad jump contest, setting a division record of 26 feet and 7 ¾ inches. The scissor broad jump is a routine that combines four consecutive jumps, traditionally practiced to develop balance for hopping from one ice floe to another.
“I didn’t really think about it that much,” Rogers said of breaking the record. “I thought I was pretty okay at the scissor broad jump. I practiced it a bunch, but I didn’t expect to break any records or anything. It was definitely a surprise.”
The Traditional Games, a two-day competition hosted by Sealaska Heritage Institute at Thunder Mountain High School’s main gymnasium, feature the same events as the NYO Games (formerly called the Native Youth Olympics) in Anchorage, a statewide competition held by Cook Inlet Tribal Council that started in 1972. The first Traditional Games in Juneau was held in 2018.
The games are based on indigneous hunting and survival skills, and each of the 10 events are connected to a traditional Native activity, like signaling a successful hunt (one-foot high kick) or hauling a seal from ice (Inuit stick pull).
The Haines students trained only for one week leading up to the competition, but all seven beat their personal bests in Juneau, said coach and PE teacher Andus Hale, who organized the trip.
“We did great. We far exceeded our expectations. It was a tremendous weekend for us,” Hale said. He added that the students not only performed well but grasped “the meaning of what the games really represent – it’s community and it’s helping one another.”
Haines student Colton Combs got silver in the middle school boys division in the wrist carry and bronze in the seal/knuckle hop, and classmate Nolan Wade placed third in the kneel jump.
James Stickler, Merissa Verhamme and Isabelle Alamillo came in third, fourth and fifth, respectively in their divisions, in the Inuit stick pull.
Event coordinator and traditional games coach Kyle Worl said Haines did “amazing for a first-year team.”
About 150 athletes participated in the 2022 games, the most to date, said Worl. Only about half that number competed in the inaugural event five years ago. Students from across Alaska, the Yukon and even the Lower 48 traveled to Juneau to compete last weekend. New teams came from Skagway and Petersburg, along with Haines.
“This weekend was pretty amazing. It was a huge success,” Worl said. “This was our fifth annual one. Each year we’re trying to promote the sport in Southeast.”
Worl said Juneau’s games are geared to be an entry-level competition for students around Southeast, although some of the athletes who competed will go on to the statewide NYO Games in Anchorage later this month. About 500 athletes compete in that event each year.
Worl said he was “super excited” to see Haines and the other new teams at the competition this year. “I think this was the experience that will stick with them and motivate them for years to come.”
The idea to attend the games in Juneau had long been on the mind of Haines School science and PE teacher Jordan Baumgartner. Baumgartner, who started teaching in the borough five years ago, does a PE unit on Native Youth Olympics each year, usually around Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, he said. Growing up in Dillingham, he learned the NYO events at school and even competed at the state level in the seal hop.
“We didn’t have a track program. So after basketball season, our next sport was NYO. That’s what we did,” Baumgartner said.
Unlike in basketball or cross country, for which specific physiques can make or break athletes, in NYO “everybody has a chance to shine,” Baumgartner said. “Everybody can find an event that they’ll be good at. Not everybody is going to be good at the one-foot high kick, but you might be good at the stick pull.”
Merissa Verhamme said she joined the team because she likes “to try new things.” She competed in four contests. One student, Nolan Wade, competed in all 10 events, while another, MJ Hotch, competed in just one.
Rogers, who took part in five events, said the atmosphere all weekend was friendly and community-minded. “There were so many skilled people. To see such a display of so many talents was really beautiful,” Rogers said. “Everyone was giving each other advice. It felt less like a competition and more like a community coming together.”
Rogers said he doesn’t do many after-school activities “but recently that changed” thanks to NYO. He has wanted to compete in the games for a few years and was excited to hear that the opportunity arose this spring.
“This is Haines’s debut into the NYO competition world,” Rogers said. “We’ve been doing this yearly, as part of PE. And people liked it, and we’ve always had the option to go. But we’ve just never had the people.”
To build on momentum from the weekend, Hale said he hopes someday to start an after-school NYO program for elementary students (but due to scheduling conflicts that idea will have to wait for now, he said).
“This was the pioneer year to get interest,” Baumgartner said. “There’s a lot of interest at the school now, so hopefully we’ll have a middle school and high school team next year.”
Rogers agreed. “I want to keep practicing. I’d love to see a team for the high school.”