Team Alaska organizers and athletes shared their experience at the 2026 Arctic Winter Games during a lunch presentation Tuesday in Juneau, showcasing how the international competition brings together young people from across the circumpolar north.

The Alaska contingent sent 355 people to Whitehorse: 275 athletes plus coaches, staff, and 27 officials. They represented 35 towns and villages statewide. The team competed in 20 sports against seven other contingents from northern Canada, Greenland, and Europe.

Two South Anchorage High School students served as the first media ambassadors Team Alaska has sent to the games. The students documented the week through video interviews and social media, capturing moments that helped families back home stay connected to their athletes.

"Having them here and capture some of the more candid moments that our athletes had was really kind of a special experience," an organizer said.

The games emphasize cultural exchange as much as competition. Athletes bunked with peers from other contingents, traded pins specific to their regions, and participated in events like a Truth and Reconciliation ceremony. Arctic sports and Dene games, indigenous competitions shared across the circumpolar region, drew teams from multiple countries.

Kyle Worl, a Tlingit athlete who first competed in Fairbanks in 2014, described how the games changed his perspective on Alaska. "The Arctic Winter Games really changes your mindset," Worl said. "Sometimes young people or anybody, you need to leave your home community, your state, your country to get a broader perspective, to get an appreciation of where you come from."

Matthew Quinto, who now works as a Traditional Games Specialist, started competing nine years ago after a coach visited his high school class. "I have friends across the circumpolar north now and that is awesome for me," Quinto said.

Hayden Chartier, another athlete turned coach, said the games provided connection beyond what other sports offered. "This one, you bring it all together, even internationally, going all about, sharing your games, culture, and just a really nice place to be able to feel where you can belong and be yourself," Chartier said.

All Team Alaska coaches and staff serve as volunteers, taking vacation time to sleep on cots in classrooms alongside athletes. Five coaches at the 2026 games were recent Arctic Winter Games athletes themselves.

The presentation comes as organizers work to bring the games back to Alaska. The Arctic Winter Games International Committee tentatively pushed the next games to 2029 because no community has committed to host. Fairbanks organizers are exploring whether the city could host in 2028 instead.

Team Alaska continues working to expand participation from northern Alaska communities and strengthen partnerships with local sports programs. The organization operates differently than Canadian contingents, where Arctic Winter Games participation is built into existing sport pipelines.

The games align with a federal initiative called America's Decade of Sport, which focuses on the United States hosting multiple international competitions including two Olympics and the World Cup over the next several years.

"How else during, while the Arctic is such a hot topic nationwide, how else can we positively promote relationships through our, with our Arctic neighbors?" an organizer said. "I think sport is a great forum to do that."

More information about Team Alaska is available at teamalaska.org.