National Adult Literacy Database

May 31, 2004

The following story was written by Randy Cockney, from Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. Randy spends most of his spare time with his 10-month old son.

The Story About Randy Cockney

by Randy Cockney

I was born on July 26, 1984 to Wayne and Maggie Cockney. I am the second youngest of three brothers and no sisters. Unfortunately, my youngest brother passed away at the tender age of 11 years old. That made me realize, to live life to the fullest, so I became involved in Arctic Sports.

I was involved in Arctic Sports since I was 10 or 11 years old, but never got serious about it until my brother passed on. Since then I have traveled to Inuvik, Whitehorse, and Kugluktuk. And I also competed in my hometown of Tuktoyaktuk.

My personal records are, the one foot high kick at 8 feet 2 inches, the Alaskan high kick at 6 feet 6 inches, the one hand reach at 4 feet 2 inches, the two foot high kick at 6 feet 8 inches, the kneel jump at 3 feet 2 inches, the bench reach at 55 inches. And I am still practicing.

>Matthew Anikina and I were tied for the bench reach, so we both got the gold medal in Kugluktuk. I won the bench reach three years in a row now. Matthew and I have traveled around a lot. We always have good competitions in the arm pull, but I have never lost to him yet. We always give the crowd a good show when we compete in the arm pull.

In the future I hope to travel a lot more. Getting involved in Arctic Sports was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

[This story was taken with permission, from The Northern Edge, Issue 3, published by the NWT Literacy Council.]