Petersburg High School’s girls’ basketball team won one game and lost one game in Metlakatla last weekend. Meanwhile, the boys’ basketball team lost two against the Chiefs at home. KFSK’s Angela Denning reports on how the games went and about the coaches behind the teams.
Inside Rick Brock’s classroom at the middle school it’s easy to tell that he’s a basketball coach. Posters about math decorate the front of the room. But the back wall is covered in basketball photographs, all Petersburg Vikings.
“This is my 29th year,” Brock said. “It’s what I wanted to do my whole life.”
Decades of coaching the Petersburg High School boys’ varsity team hasn’t gotten boring for Brock. Games like this past weekend’s keep him on his toes.
On Friday, the boys lost 49-59 and on Saturday 52-63. Brock says the Metlakatla boys’ team is rated first in the state so the Vikings had tough competition.
Rick Brock’s games review:
Having coached for nearly 30 years, Rick Brock knows well how it feels to win some and lose some and the ups and downs of the season.
So what exactly does he like about coaching?
“I love going to practice,” he said. “I love seeing the improvement in the players from the beginning of the season to the end or even from one season to the other. I guess you get to see what effect, the small effect that you might have on the kids later in life, running into them 10, 15 years later and talking to them and seeing who they become and what they’re adding to our community or other places they live. You know, as a teacher, because really that’s what you are as a coach is a teacher, I think that’s what you try to do is have a little influence on them and what kind of people they turn out to be.”
Rick’s brother, Dino Brock, has been coaching the girls basketball team for nearly as long-25 years.
He says he pretty much likes everything about coaching. Like his brother Rick, he’s also a teacher, and enjoys seeing the athletes learn and improve.
“I like-obviously-the competitive part of it,” Dino Brock said. “I like working with the kids and watching the growth; just the whole atmosphere.”
This past weekend, the Lady Vikings lost to Metlakatla on Friday 24-37 but came back to win Saturday, 34-31. Dino Brock says they were both tough defensive games.
Dino Brock’s games review:
This weekend, the Vikings head up to Haines to compete. It’s their last road trip before the regional tournament. The Vikings also have two home games before Regionals, including homecoming against Wrangell.
