Alaska High School Player of the Year: How Voting Works & How to Win

What is the Alaska High School Player of the Year on High School on SI?

The Alaska High School Player of the Year is an annual, sport-specific fan-vote award administered by High School on SI — the prep-sports platform operated jointly by Sports Illustrated and the SBLive network — at si.com/high-school/alaska. Unlike the weekly Athlete of the Week poll (a separate programme covering individual performances game-to-game), the Player of the Year recognises a single standout across an entire season and is awarded per sport after that sport's ASAA postseason concludes.

• Published at si.com/high-school/alaska, reaching a statewide Alaska prep-sports audience covering all 219 ASAA member schools.
• Award is sport-specific and annual — football, basketball, girls flag football, and additional sports each have their own separate POY poll.
• Voting is free and open to all — no Sports Illustrated subscription, no account, and no personal data required.
• The platform explicitly prohibits automated scripts, bots, and macros; votes generated by these methods are removed from the tally.
• Polls generally close at 11:59 pm Pacific on the stated deadline; the exact date is published on the active poll page.
• The winner is announced on si.com/high-school/alaska and across SBLive's social channels, creating a citable, permanent digital record.

The POY award carries lasting weight because si.com is a nationally indexed publication — a win produces a permanent, searchable Sports Illustrated byline that surfaces on Google when coaches or scouts search the athlete's name.

Which Alaska players have won recent Player of the Year fan votes?

High School on SI has run confirmed Alaska POY fan-vote polls since at least the 2023–24 season, with football being the most prominent sport covered. The table below compiles verified recent winners and notable contenders drawn from published SI/SBLive announcements and confirmed ASAA postseason results. Where a winner was determined by the SI fan vote, that is noted; other POY awards listed are from separate programmes (Gatorade, MaxPreps) and provided for context.

The football POY ballot on SI typically features eight or more candidates drawn from across all ASAA classifications — 4A Anchorage powers, 3A Interior and Southeast programmes, and smaller 2A/1A schools whose standouts put up exceptional numbers in smaller-field competition. Lathrop's Devin Emmett winning the 2024 fan vote over Anchorage-area nominees illustrates that Fairbanks-area support networks can compete effectively against the larger Anchorage school populations.

How does the Alaska Player of the Year voting work on si.com?

The Player of the Year poll is hosted on si.com/high-school/alaska and functions the same way as all High School on SI fan polls: a free, open web page with a voting widget that accepts submissions without any registration. The SBLive editorial team selects the ballot candidates after the sport's ASAA postseason ends, then publishes the poll with each candidate's name, school, classification, and a performance summary. For a general explanation of how unlimited-vote online polls like this one work, see our vote guide.

The platform allows unlimited manual votes per person — meaning a single supporter can vote repeatedly as long as each click is a genuine human action, not an automated script. The constraint is practical rather than per-device: the platform flags and removes votes generated by bots, macros, or scripting tools. There is no hourly cooldown like some newspaper polls; instead, the integrity mechanism is bot-detection rather than a rate cap.

Live totals update throughout the voting window and are visible to all visitors. Supporters actively checking the leaderboard — a common practice in tight POY races — can gauge whether their network needs a push in the final 24 to 48 hours before the 11:59 pm Pacific close. The poll page URL for each sport's POY typically follows the pattern si.com/high-school/alaska/vote-who-was-the-[year]-alaska-[sport]-player-of-the-year.

How is the Alaska Player of the Year winner chosen?

The winner is determined entirely by fan vote total — the candidate with the most votes when the poll closes at 11:59 pm Pacific on the stated deadline is named Alaska High School Player of the Year for that sport. The SBLive editorial team controls which athletes appear on the ballot, but has no role in the outcome once voting opens.

The two-stage process

1. Editorial nomination: after the ASAA sport season and playoffs conclude, the SBLive Alaska reporters select a ballot of candidates — typically six to ten players — based on season-long performance, statistical output, and postseason contribution. Not every statistically strong player earns a nomination; SBLive editors apply judgement about broader impact and season narrative.
2. Fan vote: the ballot opens at si.com/high-school/alaska with a standard voting widget. All votes are manual; automated vote removal is active throughout the window. Whoever leads when the clock hits 11:59 pm PT on the deadline is declared the winner — no editorial tie-breaking, no panel scoring.

Recognition is published on si.com/high-school/alaska and across SBLive social channels. A typical announcement article names the winner, includes a performance summary, and links back to the final vote totals — creating a permanent, indexed Sports Illustrated page associated with the athlete's name.

Because the vote is purely fan-driven with no editorial override, community size and mobilisation quality matter more than the athlete's raw statistics. A 3A player from a tight-knit Fairbanks or Juneau programme with well-organised supporters can outpoll a 4A Anchorage nominee whose network is spread thin across a large urban district.

How do you get more votes for the Alaska Player of the Year?

The unlimited-manual-vote model means there is no hourly cap to pace around — the ceiling is how many real human supporters you can reach and re-engage across the voting window. The highest-leverage moves focus on reach, framing, and sustained re-engagement until close. Our full how-to voting guide covers general tactics; the Alaska-specific factors below shape what actually works for this poll.

Two Alaska-specific dynamics shape these races. First, the Anchorage metro (home to the Cook Inlet Conference 4A schools — Dimond, West, South, Bartlett, Service, East) holds the largest raw voter pool, but that population is spread across multiple schools with different nominees. A unified Interior or Southeast programme behind a single Fairbanks or Juneau nominee can punch well above its population weight. Lathrop's 2024 football win is a concrete example: Devin Emmett's Fairbanks-based support base outpaced larger Anchorage schools.

Second, Alaska's geography means community is often online-first — remote and rural programmes like Kodiak, Kenai, or Southeast Conference schools rely more on Facebook and group chats than in-person booster structures, and their supporters are experienced at remote digital engagement.

What are the rules, and can you buy votes for Alaska Player of the Year?

The High School on SI platform's rules for this poll are straightforward: manual human votes are permitted without restriction; automated votes are banned and actively removed. There are no sweepstakes regulations, no Alaska prize-promotion law framework, and no cash prize attached to the award — it is a recognition poll. For a broader discussion of the legality and practicalities across different online poll types, see our full buy-votes guide.

The relevant distinction for anyone considering paid promotion:

• Automated bot traffic: scripted tools that generate rapid-fire votes from the same device fingerprint or IP block. The SI/SBLive platform detects these patterns and removes the affected votes. This is the only method explicitly prohibited by the platform's rules.
• Paid outreach to real human voters: real people casting genuine manual votes from their own devices across the voting window. This is structurally identical to a booster club email reaching several hundred additional families — it is fans voting, reached through a paid channel rather than an organic one.

Whether using a paid service satisfies the spirit of the poll is a judgement each athlete, family, and supporter network must make after reading the current poll page at si.com/high-school/alaska. The practical consequence of flagged automated votes is removal from the tally. There is no account involved (no account is required to vote), no athlete disqualification mechanism, and no legal exposure — the award carries no monetary value that would trigger contest law.

When does Alaska Player of the Year voting open and close each sport season?

Each sport's POY poll opens after its ASAA season — including the state playoffs — concludes, and closes on a stated deadline at 11:59 pm Pacific. The timing shifts by sport, following the ASAA calendar. The table below maps confirmed or typical timing based on the Alaska sports year.

The football POY is the most prominent and most contested poll in the Alaska cycle — it draws the largest vote totals and the most competitive ballot, typically featuring eight-plus nominees from across all classifications. The 2024 football POY poll had the voting window running through late November or December based on typical SBLive Alaska patterns.

Nomination for the ballot is not automatic — coaches, parents, and school contacts can submit outstanding athletes to the SBLive Alaska editorial team during and after the season, but ballot inclusion is an editorial decision. Submitting a strong performance case increases the chances of appearing on the ballot. Once on the ballot, a player's community is notified through the SI/SBLive announcement article, which is the signal to mobilise supporters immediately.

For context on other Alaska prep sports voting contests and the statewide school landscape, see the Alaska contest hub — including the weekly Athlete of the Week programme also run by High School on SI. For all US states, visit the USA contest guide index.