Firm foundations: Core strength is at the center of excelling in the unique events at Native Youth Olympics

The Native Youth Olympics is among most unique sporting events in the entire state of Alaska. And with unique events come unique training methods for the annual games.

Each event has a cultural meaning behind it that either ties into or symbolizes a different aspect of Alaska Native culture. Seemingly all the events engage most of and sometimes their entire bodies and require strong core muscles to execute and excel.

“We hold practices, we did a little bit of yoga, a little bit of Pilates to really build that core strength because in all the games, your core is what you need,” Anchorage coach Joanna Hopson said.

The Wrist Carry shows the significance of a successful hunt, traditionally tests the strength and endurance of hunters, and shows appreciation for the animal giving itself. In this event an athlete hooks their wrist around the middle of a horizontal wooden pole and is carried by two teammates for as long as they can stay off the ground.

Sheila Phillip has been coaching NYO in the Lower Kuskokwim School District, which includes Bethel, and believes having a strong core is just as important as having a strong arm and wrist because without it, having strong arms isn’t enough to keep legs and the rest of the body off the ground.

“Arm pulls, chin-ups and just hanging there as long as you can,” said Phillip, explaining her athletes’ training regimen. “A lot of pushups, a lot of core. It takes the whole body to do this, especially core and arms.”

Bethel high school senior Landon Smith believed that his wrestling background would give him a bit of an advantage in the event and said finding specialized training exercises for it is difficult.

“I usually practice once or twice a day,” Smith said. “It’s really hard to practice for because you’re using your wrist, and there’s not much you can train with that, so usually when I practice it’s actually doing it or working my wrist somehow.”

Excelling in the event comes more naturally to some and requires little to no training. The boys 2022 champion in the event was Dillingham junior Ethan Jenkins, whose preparation was fairly minimal.

“Honestly, I haven’t really been training this year for it,” Jenkins said, though he noted that his training for the event included core exercises such as “6 inches” and scissor kicks.

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The Alaskan High Kick was played inside during the winter months to help in developing coordination, upper body strength, and concentration. The event requires athletes to sit on the floor and balance on one foot while reaching across the torso to hold their opposite foot. Leaning back on the opposite hand, they thrust the balancing foot straight up to kick a suspended ball and must land on the kicking foot without losing their balance.

This event takes a tremendous amount of core strength and engages the entire body from head to toe. The top finishers among the girls was Eden Hopson of Anchorage and for the boys it was Colton Paul of Mt. Edgecumbe.

“It’s all about having core and upper body strength and a little bit of lower body strength in my opinion,” Paul said.

He says his training for the event also includes doing handstand pushups and extra-weight pack pushups.

“I go up against a wall, do a handstand and shift all my weight on to one hand and then try to grab my kicking foot just to help me learn how to go vertical,” Hopson said.

She has been participating in the games for nine years since the third grade and says that playing and training for basketball helps her train for NYO events. The senior also does jumping exercises to loosen her hips to get wider easier and calf raises in preparation for the high kick.

Paul competes in several other events too, including the One-Hand Reach, the Two-Foot High Kick, and the Scissor Broad Jump. He has been participating in the games for over five years and feels like they help him connect more with his heritage.

“It means a lot to me because it brings me back home,” Paul said. “It’s a part of my culture and I’ve been doing it for a very long time, probably like six years now.”

For the Scissor Broad Jump, his training includes grabbing a 15-pound medicine ball and doing broad jumps across the court. The event was used to practice balance needed when jumping on ice floes, and to keep warm and requires athletes to make four continuous hops/steps without losing balance.

Paul tries to stay fit year around, which helps maintain strength in his core.

“Our kids do a lot of calisthenics,” Mt. Edgecumbe coach Archie Young said. “Body weight exercises, pullups, handstands, pushups, and just a lot of things to work on strengthening the core because one hand reach is all about balance and your core.”

The One-Hand Reach requires athletes to balance their weight on the palm or knuckles of one hand, reach with their other hand to touch a suspended ball, then place that reaching hand on the floor without otherwise touching the floor.

“How I work on my fingers is I do pushups every day,” Paul said. “I do regular pushups, knuckle pushups for my triceps, and then I go diamond pushups, then pipe pushups and after those I do fingertip pushups and I do bridge pushups also.”

He trains for the Two-Foot High Kick with abdominal workouts, broad jumps and just practicing the event itself. That event requires athletes to jump with both feet simultaneously, kick a suspended ball, then land on both feet without falling backward. It was historically used to communicate the success of a spring hunt.

Hopson did finish first for the girls in the One-Hand Reach and said that she focused on her balancing in preparation and spent a lot of time leaning on her hands and putting all her weight on them so they don’t get bruised.

“Just being able to stay up in the air long enough to get that little extra inch that you need is something that I find hard to do so I practice a lot.” Hopson said. “I don’t really do anything to work on my fingers, it is more like practice on my knuckles to get higher.”