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Yakutat Service Agent Helps Eagles Basketball Soar
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Charlie Russell coaches girls team to championship
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4/14/2009 12:45 p.m.
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When the Yakutat Eagles girls basketball team cruised to their third straight Class 2A Alaska state basketball championship in mid-March, Ramp Service Agent Charlie Russell was guiding their success.
Russell took over as head coach this year when the previous coach retired after 15 years at the helm.
Russell has deep roots in Yakutat, having attended high school there and working for Alaska Airlines since 1992. He had been an assistant for the boys team and refereed games, so the Eagles represented a natural opportunity.
"I said, ‘OK, I'll give it a shot,' " Russell recalls. "It's a chance to travel around Southeast Alaska, sleep in late and eat junk food. You don't get to do that all the time."
He's also seen the importance that sports can play in a small town where less productive pursuits are all too tempting. Basketball is one of the few team sports available to girls there and it gives them focus and confidence, Russell says. He's proud that his team's grade point average is 3.75 on a scale of four.
"The community really supports basketball here. When there's a home game, the whole town turns out," Russell says. "Around here, if kids aren't participating in structured activities, they tend to get into trouble. They're smart and good ballplayers and dedicated to what they do."
Competing against similar-sized teams and participating in tournaments in rural Alaska requires travel — and often eight or nine days away at a time for tournaments — so Russell had to take time off work to make the commitment.
He joined an already accomplished team. The Eagles were state champions in their division the two previous years and three seasoned seniors returned this year. One of them, Rose Fraker, was named state 2A player of the year for the second time.
Still, Russell didn't let them slip. Before winning the championship by beating Skagway 53-38, the Yakutat Eagles had gone undefeated for the season. Their 25-0 record averaged a 33-point margin over their opponents.
Well-known for being one of the few local cold-water surfing enthusiasts, Russell says expectations for his team were high, so there was more pride than jubilation when they came out on top.
"I told them if they apply themselves in life the way they did on the court, they will be very successful," he says.
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