NYO Scholarship Prior Recipients:

• 2023: Dennis Hoffman, Galena Interior Learning Academy in Galena, AK  & Lydia Alverts, Ya Ne Dah Ah School in Chickaloon, AK
• 2022: Mia Anderson, Mount Edgecumbe High School (originally from Sitka)
• 2021: Naatanii Mayo, Fairbanks (originally from Stevens Village)
• 2020: Ajey Moses, Chevak, and Bridget Savage, Unalaska

Thank you to our generous sponsors who made the 2024 scholarship possible!

• Eyak Corporation
• Trickster Company
• Sharon Anderson
• Debra Call
• Jared Cure
• LaVerne Demientieff
• Sherry Douglas
• Tristan Douville
• Marissa Flannery
• LeeAnn Garrick
• Brittany Gene and Rico Worl
• Kelly Hurd
• Nina Bonito Romine
• Beth Rose
• Chuck Smythe
• Crystal Worl
• Kyle Worl
• Ricardo and Lisa Worl
• Dr. Rosita Worl

The NYO Scholarship is totally funded through donations.  If you are interested in learning more about investment opportunities for this program, please contact Kelly Hurd at (907) 793-3272.  To donate, please visit our donation form.

How the NYO scholarship started:

Kyle Worl a long-time athlete of the Traditional Games (also called Arctic Sports and Native Youth Olympics) was building and growing a base of dedicated athletes and coaches in southeast Alaska. The Traditional Games had given him strength of mind, body and spirit as a young man during challenging years.  He wanted to share the spirit of the games – building community, working hard, doing your best. In 2020, all the momentum stopped when the pandemic cancelled all the events including Arctic Winter Games that was scheduled the next week.

He was heart-broken for his students especially the seniors, that would miss out on their last in-person NYO due to the pandemic cancelling all events. He reached out to his family for help. The Worl Family and Eyak Corporation funded the first scholarship that year, and continue to support the scholarship fund. Kyle wanted to give light and hope to students at home that were continuing to jump, kick and reach in their bedrooms and garages during the pandemic. He wanted the students to keep pursuing their dreams of education after high school and for us as a community to support NYO as a mainstream sport.

Kyle has a dream that NYO will expand with more athletes across Alaska and the nation to the university level and even internationally. To date, $7,000 has been donated to six high school graduating seniors attending universities or technical schools.