Basketball's march to UnalaskaPublished on February 25th, 2010 By ROSE COX
The population of Unalaska will balloon next weekend, when up to 150 basketball players and coaches, plus an additional 50 to 75 family members, fly into town to compete in the Western Alaska Conference Basketball Tournament. Boys and girls teams from Barrow, Kotzebue, Nome, Bethel, Hooper Bay and Dillingham will join the Unalaska Raiders for four days of competition, March 3 through March 6. This is the first time the tournament has been staged at this remote location, said Glenn Cole, the tournament director and principal at Unalaska City School. "This is a huge honor for our community and school." Opening events start March 2 with a community meal for all participants in the small gym, followed by Unangan, Filipino and Samoan dancing. Next will be "pine splitter" games with boys and girls teams selected by the respective coaches from the north schools and the south schools to get players to mix it up a bit. There also will be a skills competition with a free-throw contest, three point contest, and a hot shot contest, a series of various shots that individuals must make in a certain order in under one minute. Awards will follow. Starting March 3, each day's games will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 9:30 p.m., with a dinner break from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Awards will follow the last game March 6, and at 10 p.m. there's a student dance. Volunteers have been bustling to get ready for the onslaught, and Unalaska businesses have stepped up to support the tournament, Cole said. Unisea, Alyeska and Westward donated dinners for players, coaches and chaperones. The Grand Aleutian provided free accommodations for visiting referees, and discounts for visiting tournament guests. Alaska Airlines anted up a system-wide airline ticket to be raffled off during the tournament, and the Ballyhoo Lions Club is helping with the hospitality room. Volunteers are still needed, call Susan Lynch at 581-2644. Rose Cox can be reached at rcox@alaskanewspapers.com, or by phone at 907-348-2419 or 800-770-9830, ext. 419 |
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The Dutch Harbor Fisherman is a publication of Alaska Newspapers, Inc. This article is © 2010 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Newspapers, Inc. makes no provisions for further distribution.