When Karen Paul was evacuated out of Kwigillingok, she left behind her house, the school where she was employed — her life. But for Paul, in the middle of that moment, what occupied her mind was basketball.
“At the armory I saw our counselor,” Paul remembered. “And I don't know why, but I asked her, ‘I'm hoping we'll have a basketball team.'”
Like many people in the village, Paul grew up playing basketball. After graduating, she played in adult games and eventually got involved with assistant coaching. It’s been a constant in her life — she’s seen each of her three daughters grow up with basketball. Now, she’s the head coach of the high school team, the Kwigillingok (Kwig) Lady Eagles.
“In Kwig, it's really big. The audience, the bleachers fill up during high school games, even the community men and women games,” Paul explained. “We miss that.”
Paul said that in Kwigillingok, basketball is a part of what knits everyone together. It’s a sport that fits the harsh subarctic winters like a glove and makes a place for people to gather, squeezed into a gym.
“Even though I evacuated to Anchorage, I still thought of it and hoped,” Paul said.
It turned out that it was something other people were hoping for too.
A piece of the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta
Kristen Hendrickson is the student activities coordinator for the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD). She said that in the days and weeks after the storm, the district started talking about how they could find a way for the displaced students to continue sports.
“I think it was back in October, early November, and we rallied with the principals, you know, quickly talked to them,” Hendrickson explained. “We're like, ‘Do you have uniforms at your site? If somebody's going out there, can they bring them in?'”
It spurred conversations with social workers, district leaders, and the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) about what their options could be going into the basketball season.
“It's just a huge part of the Y-K Delta culture,” Hendrickson said. She said that even the logistics of planning a home game, hosting other teams, finding local volunteers — it’s really good for a community.
“Because you have not only your players who are playing, their family members have probably played in the same gym or some of the same tournaments,” Hendrickson said.
After gathering their options, the district and ASAA decided to put it to the students. They could either try out for the bigger city teams in Bethel or Anchorage, or play as their home village. Across the schools, the students made the same choice — they would play for Kipnuk and Kwigillingok.
After the storm, most typhoon-displaced LKSD students were evacuated to Bethel or Anchorage. Many Kwigillingok evacuees had ended up in Bethel, and so it was decided that the Eagles teams would be formed out of Bethel Regional High School. The Kipnuk boys and girls teams are based in Anchorage, where more residents from that village are living. But both teams were open to any evacuated students. Out of the nine girls on the Kwigillingok team, two are from Kipnuk.
"It feels like home"
Hendrickson happened to be walking behind two of the new students in the hallway on one of the first days of practice.
“And I heard the kids say, ‘it feels like home,'” Hendrickson said. “And I think, for me, that was an indication that even though it looks different, it's not the same, that it was at least something that was familiar.”
It’s been a piece of home for the adults as well. Paul began teaching at the Yup’ik language immersion school in Bethel. Among her students were kids she’d taught back home who had also been displaced. She said that she heard Kwigillingok would have a team around the time her daughter went back to the village to retrieve some things. Paul asked her to bring back a tote of jerseys.
“They still had that clean, like laundry,” Paul said. “I forgot, maybe in the spring, right after basketball season was over. They were still, I could smell them, and it was good to see jerseys again.”
Paul said that it’s been huge to see the girls be able to play the sport as their home team, under their same name. Practices have been a way to stay connected to their village.
“We wanted to still make them feel like part of Kwig and Kipnuk,” Paul said. “It's like encouraging them to keep going.” She said that since starting practices, she has been able to see the love for the sport shine in the girls.
'Practice what you need to practice, push yourself'
“I was excited because I don't know what I do without ball,” said Kennice Anaver, a 15-year-old player on the Kwigillingok team.
Anaver and her teammate, Bessie David, said that it’s been good to have the team. But it’s still not home.
“I wish we were at home,” Anaver said.
“Same as her,” David said, nodding. “I wish we were at home.”
Paul said that she’s done her best to be positive for the girls, but it's something she feels too. It’s only been a few months since October, and the future of their village remains in question. But on the court here in Bethel, Paul said that she’s been able to see determination and a hunger to win return to the girls. It’s brought some normalcy.
“Keep up the work. Show up every day, practice what you need to practice, push yourself,” Anaver said.
The Kwigillingok Lady Eagles have been competing in the 1A league. The girls recently came in second place at the MidCoast League tournament in Eek. In addition to a happy victory, it also means they will go on to compete at the Coastal Conference in Bethel in March, where they will have a chance to qualify for the state tournament.
It’s the first time the Kwigillingok girls have qualified for the Coastal Conference in years. The girls said that they're excited for their families and pieces of the Kwigillingok community, now living in Bethel, to get to see them play.
