Valley students show sportsmanship, compete at NYO district meet

HOUSTON — Already a foot over his previous personal best, Tommy Betti aggressively faces up to his opponent, and in a steely-eyed stare-down mutters something to his adversary.

The 17-year-old Wasilla High School student then steps back slowly and gathers momentum while most in the Houston Middle School gymnasium rhythmically clap. Betti takes a few strong steps and springs up, kicking the ball neatly with two feet before nailing his landing as those claps turn to cheers.

“Tell that ball who’s boss!” encourages WHS teammate Will Byrd. “Get in that ball’s face!”

While Betti’s personal best two-foot high kick of 66 inches wasn’t close to a medal height (a kick of 87 inches won the event), the good sportsmanship and team atmosphere was the norm Friday on the first day of the Valley’s Native Youth Olympics district meet. And for Betti, NYO is a way to feed his craving for competition.

After nailing the 66-inch kick — a far cry better than his previous personal best of 50 inches — Betti said his little ritual of addressing the ball prepares him mentally.

“I’m just telling the ball I’m going to kick it,” he said, adding those supporting his jump are also important. “That clapping helps. It’s an adrenaline rush that makes it work.”

That must be it, because Betti missed on his first two attempts at 66 inches and was down to his last kick.

“It helps you get zoned in and focus,” he said. “That your friends are doing well also helps.”

Although schools bring their own teams to NYO, cheering for others is common at NYO events, said Jared Barrett, Houston coach and host of the district meet. And while the events may seem like something schools would do on field day, they have a much deeper meaning for Alaskans, he said.

The events — like the one- and two-foot high kick, stick pull, toe kick, kneel jump and girl carry — were historically important to the survival of Alaska Native people, Barrett said.

“These are survival skills,” he said. “In the winter months, when it’s all dark and it’s cold, Natives would do these to hone their skills. This is important because it’s Alaska’s culture. It dates back thousands of years and it could be lost.”

For example, the toe kick is an exercise that can keep a person alive on unstable ice, he said. For NYO, students line up like they’re performing a standing broad jump. The goal is to jump as far as possible and flick a wooden dowel back within the narrow alley of the jump.

In the Valley district, nobody’s better at the toe kick than Brandy Malidore, a 17-year-old Houston High School student. When she came up to attempt what would be her winning kick of 44 inches, the gym fell silent. It’s the fourth straight win for her. And unlike other years, Malidore moves on to the state competition April 27-29 in Anchorage. Previously, Malidore has been unable to attend state, and said she’s looking forward to competing against the best.

She also explained her technique, which includes being barefoot. Jumping sans shoes and socks makes it easier for her to feel the dowel and control her landing, she said.

“I just like the feel and feeling the stick,” she said. “Then, I also don’t have the weight of the shoes. I like to feel feather-light.”

She’ll need every advantage at state. While Malidore said her best kick so far has been 49 inches, last year’s state winning jump was 55.

“I’m just going to see where I (can place),” she said. “I get really nervous, but I’ll be practicing hard.”

Practice is what 15-year-old Tanner Barclay credits for his multiple medals on Friday. The Houston High School freshman won the kneel jump with a leap of 45.75 inches, was a carrier on the first-place girls carry team.

For the kneel jump, Barclay said he hits the weight room.

“I use a leg press to 400 pounds,” he said. “It works my quads and my calves, which really helps for (the kneel jump).”

Native Youth Olympics is strong in the Valley, but that wasn’t the case until about eight years ago, coach Barrett said. He remembers doing NYO as a student while attending Big Lake Elementary School, and when he returned to the Mat-Su Borough School District as a teacher eight years ago, he decided to reorganize the effort. It’s grown from having five competitors eight years ago to more than 30 this year, “but we’ve had even more in previous years,” he said.

As NYO participants achieve personal bests and cheer each other on, coaches find a great deal of satisfaction as well, said Mike Rinella, one of the WHS coaches. He said that pride is reflected in the performance by Betti in the two-foot high kick.

“This was his all-time best, by far,” he said. “That’s exciting. It’s cool for me, because I’ve know Tommy for about four years now.”

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.