Yakutat’s Rose Fraker selected for Alaska High School Hall of Fame
- Klas Stolpe
- 12 hours ago
- 6 min read
Led Lady Eagles to three state championships, now leading resurgence for youth sports
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
There was something special seeing Rose Fraker play in high school. A tenacity for defense, scoring and being a coach on the floor, distributing the ball across basketball courts that stretched from Southeast Conference play to every corner of the state, culminating in the ultimate venue for high school players and the towns that support them — the Alaska School Activities Association’s state basketball championships.
“When you talk about high school basketball in Alaska, Rose’s name will come up no matter who is in the discussion,” former Yakutat coach and administrator Joe Klushkan said. "Rose is the most instinctual player I have coached in 20-plus years of coaching. I know it might be cliche in saying this, but it really is true in Roses' case, she was like a coach on the floor."
Fraker will be inducted as an athlete into the Alaska High School Hall of Fame (AHSHOF) at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at the Special Olympics Alaska building, located at 3200 Mountain View Drive in Anchorage.
“Being inducted in to ASAA High School Hall of Fame is something I never even would have considered a possibility,” Fraker said. “To have been selected for this honor has brought me such great gratitude and humbleness from where it all began. Thinking back to the glory of the high school days and thinking about all those long, tiring practices, followed up with the dedication and determination I shared alongside all of my teammates, I couldn’t imagine having done it with any other group of ladies or coaches.”
Fraker’s resume as a starter is impressive. Four straight Region V 2A championships from 2006-09. Fraker and her Eagles’ teammates across that four-year span were undefeated against Region V 2A rivals. Four trips to the state tournament. They placed sixth in 2006 and as soon as they returned to Yakutat talked Klushkan into opening the gym. The team went “old-school” and back to what Fraker and her junior high team had been raised on. That junior high team had won the tournament at the now-defunct Dzantik’i Heeni in Juneau multiple times.
“We were built by a dynasty and a standard from our coaches and volunteers,” Fraker said. “We trained hard and competed with each other each day, pushing each other harder every chance we got, knowing that it was not to be better than each other, it was to push each her to be better as a whole because we knew we would win together and we knew we would lose together. There was no ‘I’ in team, and our coaches always reinforced that in us.”
The team dedicated waking hours to the sport, educating themselves in the intricacies of the game inside the gym or on the local rims hanging from garage doors. They reconnected with the values of classroom, family and community involvement. The Eagles won three state championships from 2007-09. Point Hope fell 51-44 in ’07, Ninilchik 32-20 in ’08 and SEC rival Skagway 53-38 in ’09.
“For Yakutat basketball to be given such an honor through my induction, it feels surreal,” Fraker said. “I didn’t earn all of those credentials on my own. I did it with my sister Katrina by my side and my teammates pushing me and carrying me along as well. We worked hard every day in and out of season. We did it together with the same goal in mind. If coach sent word out that there would be open gym on a nice, sunny, hot summer day, we knew we had to be there because we didn’t want to disappoint him or each other.”
Individually, Fraker earned first team Region V 2A All-Conference selection all four years of high school, was a 2A All-State selection in 2007 and the 2A Girls Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009. Plus, an assortment of all-tournament, sportsmanship and academic awards through various season tournaments.
“Many of us alumni here in Yakutat are working steadily to get Yakutat basketball back on its feet in supporting our up-and-coming youth,” Fraker said. “So putting Yakutat back on the basketball map through this induction brings not only myself, but everyone who played their part in raising my young self up and pushing me to the levels to achieve such greatness — the extra boost of encouragement we as alumni need to continue striving for the best for our kids! Volunteering can be a thankless job but it’s the end result and the happiness on the kids' faces that makes up for it all.”
That restoration of basketball in Yakutat has been noticed in Southeast. At the Juneau Lions Club’s 76th Annual Gold Medal Basketball Tournament at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé last March, Fraker was chosen as the recipient of the Dr. Walter Soboleff Award — named after the late Monarch Lion the Rev. Walter A. Soboleff (1908-2011) who was involved with the tournament nearly as long as it has been in existence. The award is given to a Gold Medal player that best personifies sportsmanship, leadership, spirit, motivation and pride in their team, their village and their community, and Fraker is all of that in the tiny hamlet in northern southeast Alaska, in the lowlands of the Gulf of Alaska where she dedicates countless hours to youth activities and orchestrating community events.
“Today I have three daughters up and coming in the basketball world,” Fraker said. “In grades 5, 6 and 7, and their determination for greatness brings me back in time to when we were young and just starting out. Reminding me of many of those community members, like Lowell Petersen and Gary Johnson. They would always make it a point to stop us in the store or while driving by on the road to tell us how proud we make them and to keep working hard and keeping Yakutat on the map — and I just want my children to feel that village love and support like I did. Not just for them, but their fellow teammates too. Village life can be tough sometimes and have minimal options, but if we can keep pushing and supporting them in all aspects, then at least we’ll know we did all we could to ensure them a chance to feel even just an ounce that we all did in our days.”
In her selection letter from ASAA Executive Director Billy Strickland he writes, “This distinguished honor recognizes your exceptional high school achievements, as well as your subsequent exemplary career and dedicated service to your community…”
There is still a much-used basketball hoop in her driveway where her daughters play the game she grew up playing, and where anyone can drop in to shoot hoops. There are no restrictions - just be respectful, love the game and play hard against your opponents.
“To summarize my feelings on being inducted into the Hall of Fame?” Fraker said emotionally. “I feel this great honor or glory and accomplishment with my teammates. I feel it with my coaches. I feel it with my community— because we did that together!”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
