The 44th Annual Native Youth Olympics started yesterday in Anchorage and will go through Saturday, however seemed to have seen a decrease in participants this year.
Michael Bernard with the Kenaitze Indian Tribe coached some of the students who are participating.
Bernard: “Talking with the organizers earlier and it sounds like there down a few participants this year, they usually have about 700 kids but this year they only have about 422 kids signed up to compete. There were four teams represented from the Kenai Peninsula, Ninilchik, Seward, Kenaitze, and Port Graham all brought teams up.”
He said that the five students for the Kenaitze team have already surpassed some of their previous personal records.
Bernard: “Our kids are participating in the kneel jump, we have one in the wrist carry, one of them tried the Alaska high kick, we had some kids that were involved in the Eskimo stick pull, and the two foot high kick is today, tomorrow we have some kids competing in the Indian stick pull, the one foot high kick and the seal hop.”
