ANCHORAGE — More than 300 teenagers registered for the 2026 Alaska Solstice Football Camp, which took place over three days at West Anchorage High School. The camp expanded its focus to include all football positions and featured more than a dozen Alaska football legends as instructors.

Camp organizer Duncan Shackelford said, "Instead of calling it the Alaska Solstice Linemen's Camp, let's make it the Alaska Solstice Football Camp and get everybody here." He added, "Colleges aren't afraid to come up to Alaska and take a look at a kid now."

The annual event began 11 years prior to 2026 and initially focused on offensive and defensive linemen. Fourteen youths participated in its first year. By 2025, attendance had grown to nearly 150 participants. For 2026, registered participants ranged from incoming freshmen to rising seniors. Camp activities included position drills and discussions about the participants' journeys.

Shackelford co-organizes the camp with Walter Harmon and Tim Davis. "It shows them what's possible," Shackelford said. "These are the kind of kids that are getting the opportunity to get out there in front of colleges these days."

Edefuan Ulofoshio, a third-year inside linebacker with the Cleveland Browns, and Chris Kuper, a former NFL offensive lineman who coaches for the Philadelphia Eagles, served as camp ambassadors in 2026. Ulofoshio, a former South Anchorage High School student, said, "It means the world." He noted, "When I was a kid and tried to look up football players, you'd see (Anchorage's) Mark Schlereth and that was about it." Ulofoshio added, "I came back and heard we don't even have a Boys & Girls Club anymore, and that kind of breaks your heart, but just getting involved with things like this helps these guys learn the game, and hopefully we get a pipeline."

Kuper, a former Dimond High School student, played for nearly a decade in the NFL, all with the Denver Broncos. "Being that guy for these (kids) to say that I grew up in Anchorage, that doesn't mean that football ends for me in Anchorage," Kuper said. He added, "It gives you tangible people that you can point to and be like, 'He grew up right around here.'"

Other Alaskans with football experience include Jackson Harmon, a former South Anchorage High School student who played for Montana State, and Alani Makihele, a former West Anchorage High School student who played for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Montana State recently won a national championship.