Basketball is important to the Wilsons in Unalakleet, like many sports-minded households in the rural villages of Alaska. Jonisha Wilson doesn’t just cheer from the sidelines, she’s directly involved, through the village school. Where Jonisha didn’t just complete her second year coaching the Unalakleet Wolfpack girls basketball team, the recent season marked Jonisha’s first year as head coach.
“I've always been drawn to basketball and I always wanted to coach just from having my dad as a coach and just being in the basketball environment,” says Jonisha. “This past year was actually my first year as a head coach, so pretty exciting. Lots of new things to learn, and a lot of people supporting me. I had a lot of community members reaching out to me asking if I was going to coach… I was a little bit hesitant.”
Jonisha already had a lot going on in her court. She is the mother of a 6-month-old girl and 3-year-old girl, while holding a full-time job. Connections she already made the prior year with girls on the team, led her to serving as coach. She knew what she was getting into: her dad, John Wilson, coached Unalakleet basketball teams for years.
“Growing up, basketball was kind of one of the only sports: basketball and cross country running,” explains John. “Basketball just kept us, me, out of trouble growing up. Some of the reasons that I became a coach was to be around my kids more.”
“I wasn’t the head coach, but I was assistant coach for the boys and the girls. I was assistant coach for the boys for I don't remember how many years, but quite a few years before my kids got in high school. And then when Jonisha became a freshman, I asked the head coach if he wanted some help and he gladly obliged. I stayed with the girls up until probably six years. I was helping out for about six years. And then my youngest daughter didn't want me to help coach anymore, because she thought I was going to favor her. So, I quit coaching.”
With encouragement and support from her dad, mom, daughter's dad Bobby, and members of the community, Jonisha stepped up.
“Because I have two little girls, that alone is a lot of work and I didn't want to take too much time away from them on top of working full time and being a mom and coaching. But I just felt drawn… My Dad was telling me that this is something that I needed to do and a lot of the community members reached out, the athletic director reached out and I accepted the position.”
Jonisha’s gals won 22 games, taking many victories alongside the Unalakleet boys basketball team, who fought for first place in the Alaska March Madness State Tournament. The Wolfpack girls only lost four games overall.
One of the many challenges as a basketball team living on the icy coast of the great Bering Sea involves travel; competing with teams from other Native villages, and big state games.
“We don't have any roads that go in and out of Unalakleet,” explains Jonisha. “All of our transportation is, you know, by airplane. Sometimes, if there's a storm coming, we might have to go a little bit earlier, or sometimes we're not able to go until later, like the tournaments or weekend games until later, and you'll have to reschedule them.”
Fund-raising for sports goes all year round in the village, another challenge, travel expenses. While the school district does own a plane, it's not always available and rural airline’ ticket prices are skyrocketing.
Despite these and other inevitable challenges, Jonisha’s passion and commitment to her teams remains strong. One of the main reasons Wilson took the role as head coach was because of the connection she had with the girls.
“When I was assistant coach, I got to know them, but it wasn't until I was the head coach this past year where our bond kind of came together,” says Jonisha. “During practices and coaching and helping improve their skills and teamwork and all that. They were like sponges and they would just listen to everything I had to say and just do it. No attitude, no questions asked, just we're going to get it done. They definitely learned that hard work does pay off.”
John says basketball shapes a young person differently than other sports played in Unalakleet. Basketball, he says, makes one work in a team and makes one come out of their shell.
“So, as you know, Alaska can get pretty dark in the winter time and there's not a lot of things that you could do when it's dark and cold and stormy,” says Jonisha. “And so basketball is something that the community comes together with and we cheer on the girls and boys basketball team.”
“You know the connection between basketball and village life is pretty high up in the chain for community events,” says John. “Basketball brings the community together into one little gym and cabin fever, I guess if you want to call it like that. So, it is good to get out on those cold days and get to a gym and get to holler and scream. And to see other people that you don't see on a regular basis.”
Basketball has served as a way for people all across Alaska, especially in the far rural villages to come together. To gather inside a bright gym, from the cold dark Alaskan frontier. To cheer for teams playing a game that brings connection, within families and community.