PARKS & GLENN: Conns’ journey an inspiration for rural Alaskans

Editor’s Note: Tiffany Borges is a freelance writer living in Wasilla. She blogs at www.parksandglenn.com.

On his way to leading his team to the small schools state basketball title and being named the ASAA Athlete of the Year at next month’s Alaska Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game, Petersburg High School senior Stewart Conn has had quite a journey.

A typical rural Alaskan’s trip to the city involves as much convenience-chasing as can be packed into their leisure time, and Stewart’s mother, Heather Conn explains their recent Anchorage trek for the state tournament was no exception.

“We make a list all year,” she said. From sushi to salons, they make the rounds between long hours at the gym. She even made time for the entrance exam for her own PhD studies at UAF, as well as sightseeing and checking out the new indoor trampoline parks.

Many of Stewart’s teammates have been friends since before they could walk, with the progression of their young careers on the court uniting them through life’s passages. They have endured divorce, death and disease, coming through as a stylistically strong team in every sense of the word. Their physique is that of men: able command a fishing boat, start a family, split a winter’s worth of firewood. But to see them on the court throughout their 2017 March Madness turn was to witness ebullient boys: faces lit up, fists reflexively pumped when a pass became a point and the net met their favor, basket after basket after basket. It would be the second Viking boys’ championship won since Statehood, the most recent (2007) also under coach Rick Brock, who is in line to be named Coach of the Year at next month’s banquet.

Petersburg’s game against Metlakatla marked only the second time two Southeast Alaskan teams have battled for the title. The fiercely competitive 2A Southeast schools tend to meet their match early among the hyper-achieving Interior and Aleutian teams.

For his part, Conn, a 6’3” Norwegian Aleut, hulks over most of his fellow players. His presence is earnest, due in part to the extra health details he must manage. Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 10, he has an insulin pump, enabling him to manage his condition himself while travelling, fishing commercially, and throughout everyday life. Of the diagnosis seven years ago, Conn says, “It gave me a lot of responsibility.”

Heather says their lifestyle has always been active, but the diagnosis intensified their commitment to fitness. Their family is aware of carb-consistent meals and works to avoid Conn needing supplemental insulin. An early interest in athletics was nurtured by his father, according to his mother.

“As a little boy, he was out there every day in the driveway with his dad, playing basketball,” she said.

After Stewart was targeted in a hazing incident as a freshman, Heather says she knows the lesson of empathy also deeply influenced her son’s character.

He later played for the USA 16U team that traveled through Europe and brought home the gold for the United World Games. She sees the pressure of Type 1 Diabetes bringing precision and focus to her otherwise happy-go-lucky son. “Since we are in every sport offered, his off-season he is in the gym daily playing basketball and lifting weights,” she said.

This empathy was quietly illustrated in the hours following the Vikings’ triumph, as the court was cleared, with his two dozen closest relatives clamoring for photos. Conn was mostly concerned for his teammates without family members of their own on the 1,000 mile trip. He dodged the spotlight like a pro, nudging his mother for a photo with the guys.

As the eldest of 8, raised in a prominent fishing family, Stewart hopes to attend a west coast college majoring in Education, and his focus is clear: “I want to play basketball for as long as I can.”

As their triumph spilled out of the Alaska Airlines Center and into the starry night, the Viking Varsity boys were together one last time. Wolf Brooks, Alan McCay, Blaine Volk will also graduate in May. Conn is proud to have shared in the culmination of a historic and fulfilling season. Along with his teammates, he has brought victory to his town, recognition to his region, and met the goal that every player pursues: they are champions.