JOE FLOYD AWARD FINALISTS
For Significant and Lasting Contribution to Alaska Through Sports – For a person or group of people who have, over a period of years, made a significant and lasting contribution to sports in Alaska.
Beth Bragg, journalist
Bragg retired in 2021 after 35 years at the Anchorage Daily News, primarily covering sports of all sort. She produced 6,735 articles that carried her byline, and thousands more that didn’t. She attended four Olympics to provide in-depth stories about Alaska’s Olympians. From the ADN article about her retirement: “Regular readers, casual readers, anyone paying attention to sports in Alaska knows the breadth, depth, quality and volume of what Beth has done. … Beth’s work was the definition of sustained, high-energy, high-quality local and regional journalism. … Beth was a terrific story editor. Again and again, she helped others shine, gave support and kept things rolling. … her shoes are impossible to fill.”
Kathie Bethard, community organizer
This past year, Bethard, of Anchorage, helped raise $3 million to reinstate hockey and gymnastics at the University of Alaska Anchorage, programs that were slated for elimination. As part of the effort, she brought the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League on board. During this mission, her home also burned to the ground. Bethard has worked at the scorer’s table keeping hockey statistics for about 40 years, for UAA, the Alaska Aces, high schools, and others. She has helped select inductees for the UAA Hall of Fame and was on numerous hiring committees for the university.
Kathleen Navarre, Dimond High School, ASAA coach/administrator
Navarre coached basketball, volleyball, flag football and track over the past 28 years at Kodiak High School and Dimond High School and has guided multiple teams to State Championships. The former athletic director and event director for numerous local and statewide high school sporting events, Navarre now helps organize events like the Alaska March Madness basketball tournament for Alaska School Activities Association. “Kathleen’s impact on the Alaska sports community is far reaching. From Kodiak to Anchorage and all points in between, prep sports happen because she is who she is. A tireless advocate for everything good about scholastic sports, Kathleen has done it all. She’s been a teacher, coach, tournament director, director of operations and more,” her nomination reads.
Finalists were selected by the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
Also receiving votes:Roman Dial, Marcus Dunbar, John Lindquist, Charles Scott
Previous winners (most recent first): Richard Knowles, Cristy Hickel, Brush Christiansen, Jim Mahaffey, Ma’o Tosi, Dennis Sorenson, Michael Friess, Dick Mize, Don Dennis, Steve Nerland and Don Winchester
The Directors’ Awards winners will be announced from the lists of finalists in each category on the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Facebook Live page at 3pm AK Time on Wednesday, April 6th.