Tanoa Bowl a classic experience

WASILLA — Dedicated. It’s one of the only words that can fully describe the 35f Taonoa Bowl players.

The best 35 football players Alaska has to offer have been continuing to play football even after their seasons ended. Since the first weekend in November 2011, these players have been having practices in Anchorage preparing for the biggest game of their high school lives. Coaches from all around the Lower 48 come to this game to see players showcase their talent. With only one break for Thanksgiving, and one break for Christmas, players practice eight hours every weekend, trying to ready themselves for this event, which is held in Auburn, Wash.

The defensive coach from Service High School hand-picked players he thought would best be able to represent Alaska. In 2011, the Tanoa Bowl only had two states participating, Alaska and Washington. The 2012 bowl added Utah and Oregon to the list of teams playing in this event. Players weren’t the only people invited on this trip. Coaches from all over Alaska, including Juneau, gave up their time to be a part of this fast-growing organization.

The majority of the team was an accumulation of the Anchorage school district, although, there were four players from Juneau and three from the Mat-Su Valley who commuted every weekend only for the love of the game. The three players from the Mat-Su Valley came from Wasilla High School. Tyler Anderson, who led the state in touchdowns (15) was accompanied by second-team All State defensive back Cole Miller and first-team All-State tight end Braydon Kuiper.

Just because you were a good athlete, or just because you had a good season, didn’t mean you were on the team. The team picked the players by the three As: attitude, academics and athletics. Players had to be able to not only perform well on the game field, but also perform in the classroom. The attitude part comes in on how you represent yourself and you conduct yourself in front of these coaches you were trying to impress, and the athletics part pretty much explains itself.

The day before the game, all four teams came together for a banquet. It gave the players an opportunity to meet other teams and coaches. On that same day, every player was interviewed. They were asked where they were from, school and position, along with a few other questions. I was able to sit and talk with Miller about the team. He mentions how much he benefited from this extra time on the field with the best coaches Alaska has to offer.

“It was a privilege to play on this team and travel to another state. Seeing the level of competition the Lower 48 plays at gives me a little advantage while I go to college,” Miller said. “Meeting other players from around Alaska was a highlight of the trip as well. Seeing players from other teams that you usually wouldn’t want to see were now players you were cheering for on your team. It was definitely a change for me.”

The Tanoa Bowl is a fast-growing organization that helps kids show off their skills to college coaches who normally wouldn’t hear about these players.

Tyler Anderson is a journalism student at Wasilla High School.