J's World: Wasilla High shows support for home state of football coach

As the Wasilla Warriors hit the field last Friday to take on the West Valley Wolfpack, Warriors head coach Will Stout was sporting a different look. Stout traded in his ball cap, and wore a cowboy hat and boots in honor of his home state of Texas and those impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

Stout is in his second season with the Warriors football program after making the move with his family from McAllen, Texas, to Wasilla during the summer of 2016. Most of Stout’s family still lives in Texas. He has a sister living in Spring, a suburb of Houston, a city among the areas hit the hardest by Harvey.

“My family is doing alright,” Stout said earlier this week.

While surrounding neighborhoods flooded, Stout said his sister’s home appears to be spared. As much concern for his family and friends weighed on Stout’s mind as Harvey hammered south Texas, Stout said he knew the importance of Wasilla’s game against West Valley, its Railbelt Conference opener.

“There’s a lot going, but we had a job to do up here,” Stout said.

But as the Warriors worked on the field, Wasilla High School and the Warriors football booster club showed their support for the Stout family and his home state. Proceeds from the split-the-pot raffle will be donated to the relief effort.

“It means a lot to my family,” Stout said of the support of his old home from his new community. “We’re up here, away from my family, my wife’s family. It means a lot for them to step in and become our family up here.”

Stout said that aligns with what he has worked to bring to the program since taking the helm prior to last season.

“It’s the culture we’re trying to create here. A football family,” Stout said.

It was a nice show of support for not just the Stout family, but all impacted by Hurricane Harvey. It’s also a reminder of, despite the distance that separates places such as Houston and Wasilla, how many of us have connections of some type.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for people across our country. Harvey hit the Gulf Coast region, wildfires have spread across the west. Hurricane Irma blitzed through the Caribbean with her sights set on Florida.

A day after Stout wore the boots and hat in honor of his home state, a runner from Eugene, Oregon, surprised Palmer Invitational officials as he sought entry in the boys’ Division I race. Gabe Garboden, a junior at Marist High in Eugene, made an impromptu trip to Palmer with his dad after the first race of his season was canceled because of poor air quality from the smoke of the wildfires burning across Oregon. As I write this column, former Frontiersman reporter Brian O’Connor is spending the night in his newsroom in St. Thomas on the Virgin Islands as they braced for Irma.

More connections.

The world is big. It’s scary. But it also can feel small. And simple gestures — such as wearing the hat or donating some money — can go a long way.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com