Their Stories: Chris Crooks and Eekeeluak Avalak
Chris Crooks:
Thank you to Chris Crooks for taking the time to interview BTS and for sharing his insight on coaching, dealing with setbacks and sharing his life lessons. One of the most important lessons that Chris Crooks has learnt from wrestling is the ability and power of a single person to have a huge impact on those around them. He empowers and fosters this growth in his athletes from a young age. He believes that in order for one to be a good coach one must possess skill, patience and resilience. His coaching approach is holistic and fun. He believes that everybody has the potential to be great in their own way because every person and athlete has different needs and goals. When there are setbacks, he thinks of them as simple bumps in the road along their journey that they will overcome. His goal as a coach is to simply develop great people, occasionally he also develops great athletes. Chris said that he is extremely proud of Eekeeluak for being resilient and utilizing his gift to better himself and inspire those around him. Congratulations to Coach Chris Crooks and athlete Eekeeluak Avalak, the first Nunavut athlete to win a gold medal at the Canada Summer Games!
Eekeeluak Avalak:
Congratulations Eekee on your gold medal at the Canada Summer Games and thank you for taking the time to interview with Beat the Streets! It was an honour to hear your story, it was so inspiring and is a testament to your discipline, values and strength. Eekee shared the story behind his gold medal and what he did to prepare for his matches. This was a difficult tournament for Eekee as it is his late brother's birthday month. His late brother is one of the individuals he wishes was there to watch him perform at every game or match and was the one who taught him to always stick up for others. To calm his nerves when he competes, Eekee reflects on their shared memories. One of the most difficult moments for Eekee this Canada Summer Games was blocking out the emotions and memories of his brother prior to his semi-finals. By speaking to Coach Chris he was able to navigate through those emotions to maintain focus on his wrestling matches. Coach Chris is one of Eekee’s biggest inspirations in pursuing his wrestling career. Prior, to stepping on the mat Eekee reflects on his ancestors and their history to prepare for the 6-minute battle on the mats, their story gives him the strength to go after what he wants on the mat. Whether or not Eekee has won or lost a match he always looks back on the match to see where he can improve. Wrestling has allowed Eekee to open up his mind to take on a positive light during a difficult time, it reminded him let his story be the fire that ignites his pursuit to be the best that he can be in life and in wrestling. What drives him is his people and his community, he knows that he is an example for the youth and it inspires him to be his best and reminds him to have fun. Eekee hopes to inspire others to be resilient through tough moments in life and to create their own future no matter where they come from.
