Jake Stoops, 28, became basketball coach of the Kotzebue, Alaska, High School girls basketball team a year ago. Though a native Alaskan, he had to overcome cultural barriers between him and his mostly Eskimo players as well as intra-squad rivalries to form a cohesive team. Basketball is serious business in bush Alaska, where residents are as passionate about what they call simply "ball" as Texans are about football. In a rural community of 3,000 where activity for youth is mostly hunting and mushing - there's no movie theater - and drug and alcohol abuse is not uncommon, Stoops provides a positive alternative. He dubbed the Lady Huskies the "Women in Black," printed up promotional booklets, held fundraisers that took in more than $30,000 to send the girls to basketball camps across the state. The Lady Huskies won their first regional championship since 1975. They didn't win state, but as senior Evelyn Conwell, 17, says, "I wouldn't want anybody else to coach me. He knows how to understand us, he just encourages us and gets us motivated. He always gives extra time for practices." In the summertime, most teachers leave the state. Stoops stays behind and opens the gym for basketball practice.

John Mitchell Ellis, 34, grew up in working class East Brooklyn and chose to return there to teach physical education at PS 273.His principal asked him to coach students for a one-time track competition.Though no expert on track, he boned up on the sport and when he saw how the students blossomed with a positive outlet for their energies, he formed an award-winning track club for neighborhood kids, the East New York Impalas. Says former principal Barbara Alfred, "He has given it a measure of concern that is surprising in such a young person." Ellis got a big truck to shuttle the 25-30 Impalas to meets around the country, often at his own expense. Says Mateka Fung, now 20 and a junior at Stonybrook and one of the original Impalas, "He's from the area, he knew the struggles that everybody is going through. He pushed me in school, everything, even after I graduated. He always called me to see how I was doing. He helped me get jobs, he helped me get into college. It's not that he just thinks about track; he thinks about your life." A sign of Ellis' lasting influence: Mateka wants to be a teacher too.

Louie Bonpua was battling leukemia when he decided he wantedto complete an Ironman triathlon. That's 26.2 miles running; 2.4 miles swimming; and 112 miles bike riding. Wayne Spaulding, 37, coach of theSan Francisco Bay area's Team in Training Iron team, which raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, was equally determined to help Bonpua achieve his dream. An organized, focused former Army captain, Coach Wayne is known for his detailed knowledge of and advice for the 250-plus athletes he coaches on the Ironteam alone. He regularly e-mails his athletes with advice on food, bikes, swimming techniques. Bonpua's sister, Aggie, says Spaulding ran with Louie, cajoled him, inspired him. Her brother told her: "You can believe the man would try anything to keep me going." During training, Louie's cancer returned. Says Aggie Bonpua, "The doctors would say, 'Louie, you can't do this.' Wayne seemed to always respect Louie's request that this is something he must do." Last August, Bonpua finished his first and last Ironman in Canada. "That's all any of us really need, is somebody there to help us on the path we've chosen to take," says Spaulding. On Jan. 19, 2002, Louie died. Spaulding organized a Louie Bonpua triathlon. All his athletes remark on his dedication to them. Fortunately, his wife Sheila is equally dedicated: the Spauldings spent their last anniversary coaching a triathlon.