NBA champion Chucky Brown should probably be back in Raleigh, North Carolina, preparing his St. Augustine’s University Falcons for their basketball season opener. He is their head coach, after all. But following a Zoom call with Wrangell Cooperative Association Tribal Administrator Esther Aaltséen Reese earlier this fall, he realized that a trip to Wrangell was not something he could turn down.
Brown will join a coalition of Team Hollywood athletes and officials in Wrangell on Monday, Nov. 11, to lead all-day programming for students. Team Hollywood, a national company, describes itself as “dedicated to bringing basketball, resources and entertainment to rural Alaska communities.”
This is the second time the organization will be in town. In February 2023, the group visited with students for an anti-bullying campaign sponsored by WCA.
The purpose of this year’s visit is different. Reese scheduled Team Hollywood’s arrival to coincide with the days leading up to the one-year anniversary of Wrangell’s Nov. 20, 2023 deadly landslide that claimed the lives of six people. She hopes the visit can boost morale ahead of the anniversary and noted that one-year anniversaries of tragedies can often be difficult for young children.
Nov. 11 will be marked by a myriad of Team Hollywood activities. Programming will tip off with events throughout the school day at Evergreen Elementary School.
Then at 2:30 p.m. there will be an assembly for the middle and high schoolers followed by an NBA-style draft at 4 p.m. Any 13- to 18-year-old is eligible and the draft will determine teams for the subsequent three-on-three tournament that will begin at 5:30 p.m. The after-school portion of the programming is open to the public, and there is no fee for participants.
Even better, the winners of the tournament will receive NBA-style championship rings. Brown will organize and oversee the entire draft process, making the whole experience even more authentic for the Wrangell student-athletes.
Another addition to this year’s programming is soccer. According to Reese, the town’s elementary schoolers are “really into soccer” and elementary teachers have mentioned it’s the most popular sport at recess. So along with basketball players, Team Hollywood is bringing a couple of soccer professionals to provide the elementary school kids with training opportunities.
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