Camaraderie and Culture
![Side-by-side pictures of an NYO competitor preparing for, then executing, a one-foot high kick inside the St. Michael school gym.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2018-SMK-NYO-Games-2-Up-2432px-1200x800.jpg)
If you ask a Western Alaska school-aged child to name their favorite sport, the most common response will likely be “Native Youth Olympics,” or NYO. The games aren’t just a way for students to compete and develop athletic skills; they’re also a means for youth to connect to subsistence culture and learn to support each other.
Unalakleet Teens Reach New Heights at NYO
![Wrist-carry competitors race at the 2018 BSSD NYO tournament in St. Michael, Alaska.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-04-20-bssd-nyo-st-michael-alaska-001-7-1200x900.jpg)
Two Unalakleet competitors, Allie and Arctic Ivanoff, were the highest-scoring athletes in the 2018 statewide Native Youth Olympics. They placed in the top 5 nine times over six separate events during the games held at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.
At Subway Basketball Showdown, Close Games and Family Pride
![Nome girls, in white, fight with Unalakleet girls, in brown, fight to recover the basketball](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/3G7A9409-1200x800.jpg)
The Unalakleet boys and Kotzebue girls teams came out on top of at a competitive weekend of high-school basketball last Thursday through Saturday.
At BSSD Mixed-Six Championship, A Thrilling Volleyball Climax
![Shishmaref and White Mountain at the BSSD Mixed-Six Volleyball Tournament (Photo courtesy of Irving Ashenfelter, 2017)](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DSC06990-1200x800.jpg)
Unalakleet and Shishmaref took the top two spots and advanced to state in an energetic BSSD Western Conference Mixed-Six Volleyball Tournament in St. Michael.