The Cambridge Bay Wrestling Club has been busy the last few months helping other Nunavut communities build their own wrestling clubs and generate opportunities for growth and leadership among young Nunavummiut.
“We were able to hit nine out of 10 communities,” says Chris Crooks, president of the Cambridge Bay Wrestling Club and Wrestling Nunavut. “We had well over 400 youth participate. And coaches, well over a couple dozen, so it was hugely successful. What we were also able to do is try to get more coaches involved in communities, and try and offer them support... so from this, we then took about 72 athletes to Edmonton for a week of training... with a competition at the end.”
Crooks says the Nunavummiut athletes ranged in age from 7-18. They came from four communities in the Kivalliq — Chesterfield Inlet, Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet, and Arviat.
“Previous to this year,” adds Crooks, “the only community in the Kivillaq region that had a wrestling program was Arviat, so we created three more programs. We took coaches and mentors from three of those communities, then... we took approximately 31 athletes and coaches to Ontario for a week's training, then to compete in tournaments... so it was a great experience for all.
“With our training, we do a number of excursions. We take them swimming pools, to Niagara Falls, they skated at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto and the Eaton Centre... overall it’s an excellent experience. When in Ontario, they travel to different schools and training facilities.”
Wrestling Nunavut also took the opportunity to educate Ontario students about life in Nunavut at a high school in Hamilton.
“It’s a good exposure for Inuit youth to talk about their culture, with different people who don’t have a first-hand knowledge of an isolated Northern community that’s part of Canada,” Crooks explains.
The young Nunavummiut also stay at Airbnbs, where they are taught about meal preparation, grocery shopping and participate in informal mentoring and workshops on finances, family planning, career choices and other topics.
Responses, says Crooks, “were extremely positive. It varied from community to community. At the Pangnirtung Elementary School, we had over 70 kids attend our workshops, which is incredible. At Clyde River, we did coaching workshops, and we had 10 people attend who aren’t necessarily coaches but are just interested in the program and what we’re doing.”
A point of particular focus is for elementary-aged kids who might not otherwise have the kind of athletic outlets Wrestling Nunavut provides for high school students.
“We also went into the schools and ran their gym classes for them, that was hugely positive. More so for the younger kids... when you’re looking at the younger kids, grades 1 to 6, there aren’t as many opportunities to get out due to sports... so we did find many of the communities... were asking for programs for young kids. So looking forward... we are trying to extend it to younger kids. Basically, our goal is to extend it to the programs in as many communities as possible. But as you can imagine, it takes an incredible amount of funds.”
Wrestling Nunavut is able to visit communities and provide the clinics through a hodgepodge of different grants and financial support.
“The greatest impact would be in communities that didn’t have programs,” adds Crooks, who gives the examples of Clyde River, Baker Lake and Chesterfield Inlet, who sent individuals "who haven’t done an extensive amount of travelling... I believe in the communities that never had programs, to offer our support is huge... and to support existing programs and volunteers.
“Basically, it’s the people who have come through wrestling in some form... to develop coaches — we feel it’s hard to do in isolation, so we try and take them to competitions, training camps, to understand what it’s like when you’re dealing with 20 or 30 athletes... our goal is to support those coaches.”
“We’re just trying to promote activities and programs to promote well-being. Obviously we’re using wrestling as a medium to support mental health and physical health. It is about wrestling, but it’s not about wrestling. It’s about character development... we look at our program as we just need to promote strong Inuit youth.”
