A Documentary About the Importance of Basketball in Alaskan Village Life
“You play basketball because you either love it, or you want to forget about something.”
The unifying power of sport has been demonstrated time and again over the course of history, and it seems that this power transcends boundaries and geography to permeate even the most remote Alaskan village. ESPN’s 30 for 30 series has produced a short film documenting exactly this in the small Yup’ik settlement of Toksook Bay, where basketball — first imported by a visiting Jesuit priest — has become the spiritual and emotional lifeblood of the village. The film follows the fortunes of the local Toksook Islanders high school team, and those of its star player, Byron Nicholai, as they strive to compete in the qualifiers for the state competition, carrying the hopes of their 600-strong village with them over hundreds of miles of frozen tundra, providing a much-needed boost to help the team’s family, friends and fans persist in Alaska’s unforgiving environment. Watch the uplifting film above.
