The Barrow Whalers officially began its 2025 high school football season at Cathy Parker Field in Alaska on Friday. They play on the most unique athletic field in the United States and there is no debate.
It is located on the edge of the world! Literally!
All of their high school football games require air travel. They play only six to eight regular season games per year because of the freezing temperatures.
Where is Barrow High School?
Barrow High School is located in what used to be known as Barrow, Alaska. The city town decided to change its name in 2016 as part of a larger movement to preserve and honor the region’s Indigenous heritage.
It is now called “Utqiaġvik,” which means “a place to gather wild roots” in the local language of Iñupiat. The letter ġ represents a voiced uvular fricative that is not used in the English language so the rough pronunciation comes out to something like: oot-kee-AHG-vik.
Anyway, Utqiaġvik sits at 71.290558° N, −156.788605° W on the northernmost point of Alaska the world. You cannot go any further north.
Barrow High School serves approximately 280 total students in grades 9-12. The Whalers also have a football program!
Playing high school football on the edge of the world is beautiful and cold.
ESPN did a long featured piece on the struggles of the Barrow High School football team back in 2006. Cathy Parker, a woman from Jacksonville, was so moved by the piece that she decided to raise money.
‘Project Alaska Turf’ raised more than $500,000 to install a proper artificial turf field for the Whalers so they no longer had to play on gravel. As a result, the most unique high school football field in the United States is named in her honor.
Cathy Parker Field sits on the remote shoreline of Utqiaġvik, Alaska with the Imikpuk Lake on one side and the Arctic Ocean on the other. The homie Michael Barker (@cfbcampustour) captured these stunning drone images prior to the 2025 season opener:
Although it might look pretty nice right now, don’t let those photos fool you! Most games are played in temperatures of 20-40º but that number usually drops into the teens come Week 8.
Heck, Barker is already wearing a beanie. (Meanwhile, it is 93º at my home in Tennessee.)
Wind chills from the exposed bodies of water often dip below zero. Snowstorms are not uncommon— hence the blue turf.
Utqiagvik, Alaska is a logistical nightmare.
Because Utqiagvik is not connected to the rest of Alaska by road (seriously), Barrow High School must travel to all of its road games by plane. The same goes for the Whalers’ opponents when they travel to the edge of the world.
To make the travel even more complicated, flights typically connect through Anchorage or Fairbanks. Even the relatively “close” opponents are not close.
Alaska high school football teams, including Barrow, typically play seven regular season games from mid-August to mid-October. The Whalers sometimes play fewer regular season games because of the travel challenges but seven games is pretty standard across the state. Playoffs start at the quarterfinals.
I am by no means the first person to “discover” this not-so hidden gem in Alaska. Sports Illustrated did a docuseries in 2015ish. As did NFL Network.
I just saw those photos from CFB Campus Tour and I had to share! Football so back.