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Keeping 2022 gold medal legacy alive, coach leads wrestling clinics across Nunavut

Veteran coach Chris Crooks is running wrestling clinics across 10 communities in Nunavut for Inuit youth interested in the sport. Joined by champion Eekeeluak Avalak and Cambridge Bay wrestler Kiana Ekpakohak in Kugluktuk this fall, they are working to support young athletes and coaches.

Nunavut wrestlers prepare for community clinics after Alberta camp

Coach Chris Crooks has devoted the last six years to helping the youth of Cambridge Bay and beyond learn not only to wrestle, but the skills to cope with anything life might throw at them.

“It has helped with school attendance, reducing suicidal ideation and leadership skills,” among many other benefits for school-aged children in the community, he said. “We try and use wrestling as a medium for mental health, recreation and sport.”

Making space for youth in our communities

“We create safe spaces basically anywhere we are,” said Chris Crooks. “We actively seek out positive role models who can support and engage the youth in a healthy manner. Those involved with the youth are counselled, trained, and continually mentored to try and achieve the best possible outcome.”

Eekeeluak Avalak is an Inuit wrestler, who this summer, became the second Nunavut athlete to win a medal at the Canada Games. He’s joined in this episode by his coach, Chris Crooks. Enjoy!

DEGREES OF SUCCESS: Cambridge Bay wrestling program builds resilience, offers supports

“Some kids who I’d never heard speak were speaking amazingly well, and there were tears in the audience. That ability to be able to talk in a large group without shame about what your life is like is huge,” said Crooks,

Wrestling helps kids in Cambridge Bay grapple with big issues - CBC

"It showed me that I can do anything I want if I put the effort into doing it," she said. "It's more of a way of finding your body's strength and your self awareness."
-Aislyn Omilgoetok