The first day of the Sockeye basketball tournament was extremely windy, and no planes were flying to Togiak. So the school came up with a plan: Drive the players, coaches and chaperones across 70 miles of frozen tundra, streams and lakes — on snowmachines.
Basketball is a huge part of life in rural Alaska. But the COVID-19 pandemic means that in Bristol Bay, teams haven’t been able to play against each other since 2020.
“They were excited to come here and play. And I have two seniors. And it’s their last year,” said Ina Togiak, the coach for the girls team. Thomas Dock coaches the Togiak boys’ team. He said they had discussed traveling by snowmachine for games in the past, to no avail. But this time, parents and coaches met with school officials and agreed that the team should make the journey.
“It’s really nice to hear people say that everybody in the southwest region parts of Alaska knew Togiak was coming by snowmachine to Dillingham to play basketball,” he said. “That was awesome and we were greeted really well here.”Senior Alyssa Coopchiak has played basketball for eight years. She said it was hard not to compete during the pandemic.It was her first trip to Dillingham by snowmachine. She said it’s exciting to compete again.
They said the ride to the tournament was tough, but fun. It was their first long trip on snowmachines. “The jumps on the snowgo. When you’re a passenger when you’re holding on it feels like you’re going to freaking tip, and crash,” Hyexikok said. “Our legs would get so sore we would have to stretch.”Later on in the tournament, the team gathered outside the Dillingham boardinghouse where they were staying.