curling connection

The
CURLING CONNECTION
October 2015
@ Fortius Sport & Health
www.curlbc.ca
Victoria to host 2017 Canadian
Junior Championships
Victoria will play home
to Canada’s best young
curlers when they host the
Junior nationals in 2017.
The 2017 Canadian
Junior (Under 21) Men’s
and Women’s Curling
Championships will be
staged Jan. 21-29 at the
Archie Browning Sports
Centre in Esquimalt, using
the facility’s hockey arena
and six-sheet curling rink
to decide which teams
will represent Canada at
the 2017 World Junior
Curling Championships in
PyeongChang, South Korea.
“Our city has a
rich history of hosting
championship curling
events, and we know the
curlers and fans who will
be here in 2017 will be
treated to a wonderful
experience,” said Keith
Minister Fassbender celebrates alongside several curlers
from the area (photo courtesy of Times Colonist)
Dagg, co-Chair of host
committee. “The Archie
Browning Sports Centre is
a first-class facility that will
allow these talented teams
to perform at their best.”
It will be the first time
Victoria has hosted the
Canadian Juniors since
2004 when BC were
represented by Team Baier
in the Men’s and Team
Recksiedler in the Women’s
event. The city also hosted
the Canadian Junior Men’s
Championship ...
Continued on page 2
1
IN THIS ISSUE
Take part in our
SportMedBC series
2
Armstrong’s member
numbers soar
3
Young curlers compete
on WCT stage
4
Optimist helps develop
young coaches
5
Tunnel Town mean
business
6
Take the first step to
BC Juniors success
7
A note from the Curl
BC Chair
8
October 2015
Continued from page one...
(the men’s and women’s events were combined in 1987) in
1979 when Alberta’s Mert Thompsett prevailed.
“The sport of curling is one of Canada’s favourite pastimes.
The recent staging of both the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier and
the 2013 Ford World Men’s Curling Championships are a
testament to British Columbia’s ability to host these types
of events,” said Peter Fassbender, provincial Minister of
Community, Sport and Cultural Development. “We look
forward as hosts for this Victoria-based competition to
welcoming curling fans from across the country to this
wonderful province and to once again make lasting, positive
memories for all the athletes, coaches, judges, volunteers,
their families and friends who will participate.”
BC teams have won eight Canadian junior championships
including Corryn Brown taking women’s gold in 2013. Other
previous winners were Brad Kuhn in 2000, Dean Joanisse in
1989 at Winnipeg, Mike Wood in 1988 at North Vancouver,
Julie Sutton in 1987 at Prince Albert, Jodie Sutton in 1986 at
Rouyn-Noranda, Que., Sandra Plut in 1982 at Winnipeg and
Jerry Laughlin in 1961 at Prince George.
“We are so very proud and thrilled to be hosting the 2017
Canadian Junior Curling Championships here in Esquimalt at
the Archie Browning Sports Centre,” said Esquimalt Mayor
Barbara Desjardins. “We are a curling community with a rich
tradition in the sport that includes promoting local youth
curling. I know that visiting athletes and fans will appreciate
the impressive upgrades we recently completed at our facility
as well.”
“Curl BC is delighted that Victoria has been selected to
host the 2017 Canadian Junior Championships,” said Curl BC
CEO Scott Braley. “With a great organizing committee that has
run several national and world championships supported by
Team Brown from Kamloops were the last BC team to win
the Canadian Junior Curling Championships
volunteers from the four local curling centres, Canada’s best
young curlers will be in for a treat, as will the Victoria curling
community.”
TSN, the official broadcaster of Curling Canada’s Season
of Champions, will provide live and exclusive coverage across
Canada of the women’s and men’s semifinals and finals.
“The Canadian Junior Championships are one of our
most popular events, and it’s always a thrill to see the next
generation of Canada’s curling stars perform on the national
stage,” said Pat Ray, acting Chief Executive Officer for Curling
Canada. “Victoria has done a terrific job in the past hosting
national and international curling championships, and we’re
expecting more of the same in 2017.”
The two winning teams in Esquimalt will go on to
represent Canada at the 2017 World Juniors which will
be the official test event for the 2018 Winter Olympics in
PyeongChang, South Korea.
Attend our SportMedBC series for recreational curlers
Curl BC is partnering with SportMedBC to offer a range of
personal development workshops for club curlers.
The series of three educational workshops, which will take
place at Langley Curling Club, is aimed at helping recreational
curlers improve their physical and mental conditioning when
competing in leagues and bonspiel play.
These sessions will offer curlers the opportunity to tap
into resources similar to those available to elite athletes as
the presenters include Olympic-level practitioners such as
renowned psychologist David Cox who has worked with Kelley
Law, Steve Nash and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Each of the workshops, which are being held at Langley
Curling Club, will cover two separate topics and will cost $20
per workshop or $50 if you register for all three.
To register for an individual workshop click on the relevant
title below or to register for all three visit our website.
2
Course
Date and
time
Registration
deadline
ABCs of preparing for the
season & Key factors for
55+ active living
November 3,
7pm
November 1
Nutrition & Injury
prevention and
management
November 8,
1pm
November 5
Mental performance
for active adults &
Integrated healthcare
November 22,
1pm
November 15
October 2015
Armstrong Curling Club’s membership numbers surge
The staff and Board at Armstrong believe that a range of factors, including advertising at local events, hosting social
events and promoting the fun community within their club, has helped attract new members to their club.
Two years of hard-work and
dedication by the volunteers of
Armstrong Curling Club is paying off
as they have seen their membership
increase by almost 17 per cent this year.
So far this season, 37 new members
have joined the club and many of them
are under 50 which is a demographic
that the club was particularly keen to
attract.
Terri Nicholson, Vice President of
the Club and chair of the membership
committee, is delighted by the increase
and says it has occurred because of a
combination of different initiatives.
“Two years ago we founded a
membership committee and decided to
really focusing on promoting the club
in the community as a lot of people
knew we existed but did not know what
to expect. We took out adverts in the
leisure guide, created a float for the Fall
parade and set-up a booth at the local
store so that we could provide people
with lots of information about the
club”, Terri said.
“This year we did a real push on
Learn to Curl as we wanted people
to realize that you didn’t need to be
experienced to join the club. We ran
two-hour sessions each day of the
Thanksgiving weekend and had a sheet
dedicated to stick curling as well as
one or two sheets for regular curling. I
spoke to some of the people afterwards
and they were all really pumped and
excited about joining leagues”, Terri
added.
The club is always keen to hear the
thoughts of their members and Terri
says that 90 per cent of the ideas come
from the members either over a postgame drink or via the suggestion box
that the club introduced a few years
ago.
Terri explained one such idea when
she said: “Last year a few of the guys
said to me ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have
a Super Bowl party?’ so we organized
one and it was a great success. We
try to have lots of social events so
that people can come and see what
a fun place it is. There is a great spirit
at the club and people can come and
just hang out, have a drink and watch
TV and I think that has helped too. At
least half of the new registrants have
been brought to the club by existing
members which is great to see as it
shows people are proud of our facility.”
Club Manager Steve Gunner believes
that the efforts of the Board and
Membership Committee have made a
real difference. He said: “Our Board of
Directors realizes that increasing the
membership is the most important
thing we can do to remain viable
but that the process of recruitment
and retention costs money. Their
involvement and cooperation have
definitely made it easier to undertake
these membership drives.”
Curl BC would like to congratulate
all of the staff and volunteers at
Armstrong Curling Club who have
worked hard to attract new members
and we hope all the members, both
new and old, enjoy the 2015/16 season.
Become a Curl BC Club Development Coach
Curl BC is currently recruiting Club Development Coaches to support local curling clubs throughout BC.
Club Development Coaches deliver workshops and clinics at curling facilities across BC to support the development of
recreational level curlers in BC.
The minimum certification is NCCP Competition Coach trained. We are seeking coaches specifically in the Kootenays,
Northern BC, and Vancouver Island. Interested individuals should contact Penny Bartel at pbartel@curlbc.ca or call
604-333-3620.
3
October 2015
Young curlers given the chance to shine in WCT event
The Vernon Prestige Curling Classic
is one of BC’s best known spiels and this
year some of the province’s up-andcoming curlers had the opportunity to
be part of it.
Dave Merklinger, the Manager at
Vernon, handed two local junior teams
berths in the draw and gave them the
chance to compete against the likes of
Cheryl Bernard and John Morris.
Winter Harvey, and her team of third
Jaelyn Cotter, second Megan McGillvary
and lead Cassidy Schwaerzle, could not
believe their luck when they found out
they would be competing at the event.
Speaking about the opportunity,
Winter said: “When Merk first asked
me if we wanted to play I thought he
just meant in the regular Vernon spiel
so when we found out it was the World
Curling Tour cashspiel we thought it
was an amazing opportunity.
“I helped out at the event two years
ago when I had only just started curling
competitively so if someone had told
me then that I would be competing in
it two years later I would have laughed;
maybe in five years but not two!”
Despite Winter’s team all being
aged between 15 and 17, they were
not intimidated when they had to curl
against Olympic medallist Bernard.
“I was very excited to curl against
Cheryl and I didn’t feel too nervous
because there wasn’t any expectation
on us to win. Our coach Jim
(Cotter) said that they were
a really nice team who would
have good pointers for us
and that it would be great
experience”, Winter said.
“All of the teams we curled
against were very encouraging
and supportive and I definitely
think playing in the event has
raised my confidence and we
learnt a lot which will help us
in future spiels”, Winter added.
In the Men’s event, Team
Love was given the chance to
compete in a spiel that they
Above: Thomas Love on the ice alongside some of
have enjoyed attending as
Canada’s best curlers.
spectators, as skip Thomas
Below right: Team Harvey with Team Bernard.
explained: “I’ve gone to watch
the spiel for the last couple of
is very beneficial to assessing your
years and it's really fun watching such
team’s strengths and weaknesses and
fantastic curling in your home club. It's evaluating exactly what you have to do
especially cool to see the international
to become a better team.”
teams and compare their strategy and
Both Team Love and Team Harvey
deliveries to those of the Canadian
are competing at their home club this
teams.”
weekend in the Rick Cotter Memorial
Alongside his team of third Erik
Junior Classic, the third event of the BC
Colwell, second Brendan Chapple and
Junior Curling Tour. You can follow all of
lead Johnathan Schwartz, Thomas
the scorelines live on Curlingzone.com.
enjoyed having the opportunity to
test himself against some of the best.
Speaking about the experience, he said:
“It was pretty neat playing alongside
As many of you will be aware,
people like Team Simmons; it makes
the Canadian Team Ranking
you feel pretty special knowing you
System (CTRS) and Order of
are along side some of the
Merit (OOM) points model, which
elite. It's definitely different
determines the points awarded for
watching them play directly
all events, has changed this year.
from the ice as you hear
The new model determines
exactly what they say and do
the
points awarded for all events
when the mics aren't on!”
using a combination of size and
As well as giving him an
strength of field, size of purse,
insight into the behavior of
and relative importance of large
Canada’s top curlers, Thomas
events.
believes the event also
The policy regarding CTRS
helped him improve.
Challenges
has also been updated
“Knowing exactly
for
the
2015/16
season.
the level it takes to be a
To read about the changes
competitive team in Canada
in
both
areas, visit the Curling
is very valuable. Playing
Canada
website.
such high calibre teams
CTRS points model
4
October 2015
Creating new coaches at Camp
A lot of people
“It was a fun
within the curling
experience to be
community are aware
a coach although
of the important role
at times it was
Optimist Camps play
difficult because
in introducing new
it was completely
curlers to the sport,
new to me. I
but did you also know
enjoyed helping the
that it helps create
participants out by
a new generation of
giving them tips and
young coaches?
tricks for getting
One of the unique
better. I would
features of Optimist
definitely like to
Camps is that the
coach again in the
Owen
(right)
was
a
coach
for
the
vast majority of the
future”, he added.
first time at an Optimist Camp and
coaches at them
Owen was joined
Phillip (left) was able to try curling
are youth curlers
at the Camp by his
themselves which helps add to the fun
friend Phillip who was visiting from
and vibrant environment.
Germany and attended the day as
The Getting Started in Curling Camps
a participant. He also enjoyed the
are led by a certified coach but a team
experience and said: “It was the first
of experienced junior curlers have the
time that I had tried curling but I liked
chance to develop their coaching skills
learning about all aspects of the sport
by mentoring younger children and
and I am now curling two times per
running games and activities on the
week.”
ice.
With events taking place across the
One young curler who has had the
province, Optimist Getting Started
chance to coach is 15-year-old Owen
Camps provide kids with an ideal entry
Braun who assisted at a recent
into the sport of curling and also help
Optimist Camp in Lake Cowichan.
their young coaches develop valuable
Speaking about his experience he said: new skills.
“I have been curling for four years but
If you are interested in attending a
I had never coached before so, when
Camp, visit the Curl BC website to find
Al Kersey offered people at Nanaimo
the nearest one to you. Anyone who
Curling Club the chance to help out, I
would like to be a young coach should
thought it would an interesting thing
email Al Kersey at akersey@telus.net
B:7 in
to try.
or go to the Optimist
T:7 inwebsite.
New BC Societies Act
to be introduced
The new BC Societies Act is
expected to come into force within
12 months (by November 2016) and
will replace the existing Act which
legislates how sport organizations in
BC are incorporated.
The new Act will introduce several
changes to how sport organizations
in BC operate and there will be two
years to transition once the new Act
is ‘in force’.
Curl BC will be producing guidance
and template documents to help all
member centres make the transition
from the old Act to the new, and
we will keep you updated on any
additional announcements relating
to the Act.
For further information, click here.
Be part of the 2016
BC Scotties
From January 19-24 the 2016
BC Scotties, presented by Best
Western, will be held at Coquitlam
Curling Club and they are looking for
your help.
The club is seeking volunteers for a
number of roles including officiating,
security, ticket sales and hospitality.
Anyone who is interested in
volunteering should complete this
online form.
S:7 in
Lead.
Second.
Third.
Skip.
© Tim Hortons, 2013
5
T:2.1875 in
Some things were just made for each other.
S:2.1875 in
Tim Hortons coffee. And curling.
October 2015
Tunnel Town discovers the benefits of the Business of Curling – Phase Two
The ice may have come out of
As a result of this uncertainty,
most centres over the summer but
Tunnel Town decided to complete
that does not mean the hard work
the Business of Curling – Phase
stopped as many clubs used the
Two program in the hope that it
off-season as a chance to develop.
would help them determine how
Several curling centres across
the centre should progress.
the province have taken part in
Each workshop is devised to
Business of Curling – Phase Two
meet the needs of the specific
workshops which aim to help
centre but common elements
centres better prepare for the
include a SWOT analysis,
future.
developing a mission statement
The Business of Curling – Phase
and building teams to work on
Two workshops in BC are run by
certain goals.
Curling Canada facilitator Jack
At Tunnel Town’s workshop
Facilitator Jack Bowman works with some of the
Bowman who explained the
they had one staff member, 70
Tunnel Town team to develop their strategy.
focus of the sessions when he
per cent of their board and seven
said: “The content of the workshops is custom designed
members of the club. Speaking about the attendance, Brian
to lay the groundwork for the development of a multi year
said: “The workshop was a great way to get those members
strategic business plan. The key to success is to build teams in involved who were scared of being on the board but wanted
functional areas and to include Board members on each team to help. We organized ourselves into functional teams and
who actively recruit volunteers through personal contact.
developed a strategy that allowed us to know what our
“The balance of the weekend workshop focuses on
individual steps and actions were.”
working within these teams to develop prioritized objectives
Brian added: “The beauty of the program is that once you
and strategic action steps with identified tasks, persons
begin to focus on your long term goals it becomes easier to
responsible and time lines”, Jack added.
see what needs to be done to achieve them. Once everyone
One centre that has benefited from a Business of Curling
has agreed on the desired outcome, you can start to define
- Phase Two workshop is Tunnel Town Curling Club in
your area of work and progress. We now have a document
Tsawwassen.
with clear actions that we can work on straight away and
Speaking about their reasons for doing the workshop,
we’ll continue to update it as our plans develop. ”
Director Brian Cole said: “Our club was doing fine but the
Curl BC wishes Tunnel Town, and all of the other Business
board and staff were split in terms of which direction we
of Curling – Phase Two participants, the very best as they
should go in and we were unsure how to move forward.”
continue to work with Jack to develop their centres.
Improve your game ahead of playdowns
If you have recently starting
curling competitively, we have the
perfect preparation for junior and
juvenile playdowns.
Curl BC is staging a one-and-ahalf day Podium Prep Camp in Grand
Forks aimed at helping youth curlers
develop their competitive game.
The Camp, which is at Grand
Forks Curling Club from November
21-22, will include skills analysis,
drills and off-ice sessions on topics
such as team building and nutrition.
There will also be elements of
the weekend aimed at parents and
coaches including information on
how best to support young athletes.
The Camp will be led by Dave
McGarry who began his coaching
career working with new curlers
in Nanaimo before working
with Curl Manitoba delivering
high performance workshops to
competitive curlers or all ages.
To sign up for the Podium Prep
Camp, click here.
6
PCMCA vote unanimously
to include women
In September, the Pacific Coast Masters
Curling Association voted unanimously
to include women in their group.
The membership originally voted on the
motion, which will allow the PCMCA
to support 60-plus women’s and mixed
curling, at their AGM in April.
The PCMCA Constitution and Bylaws
were then rewritten to recognize the
inclusion of women and this information
was presented to the membership at
four General Special Meetings where
all 89 members voted to accept the
proposal.
October 2015
Take your first step towards the 2016
BC Junior Championships
Junior curlers
can take part in the
first televised Curl
BC Championships
of 2016 – but
teams need to
sign up to play in
playdowns first.
The 2016 Tim
Hortons BC Junior
Curling Championships are taking
place at Kamloops Curling Club from
December 29, 2015, to January
3, 2016 and for the third year in a
row, the finals of the event will be
televised on Sportsnet.
The entry deadline to register for
regional qualifiers is November 8.
Playdown events are taking place
at Trail Curling Club and Vernon
Curling Club on December 4 to 6.
There will also be Williams Lake
Curling Club and Port Moody Curling
Club from November 20-22.
Gabriel Kwok, from Richmond
Curling Club, entered playdowns for
the first time in the 2014-15 season.
He said: “I really enjoy curling but I
wanted to do more and play more
competitively. Also, I had a lot of fun
at my first Rockslide Curling Camp
in 2014 and was inspired to curl at a
higher level. So I
entered playdowns
for the higher level
of competition.
“I enjoyed the
higher level of
competition and
the challenge of
playing against
players with higher
skill level and experience.”
Just like last year, Curl BC will
reimburse the competitors’ fee for
people entering playdowns for the
first time, a savings of $40 per curler.
The number of berths to
provincials will be prorated based
on the number of entries in each
qualification event.
In total, eight teams of junior
women and eight teams of junior
men will qualify for the event.
If you have any questions about
entering playdowns, please contact
Shannon Aleksic, Curl BC’s High
Performance and Competitions
Manager, at 604-333-3619 or email
saleksic@curlbc.ca.
To register for the BC Juniors, visit
the Curl BC website.
Have your say
Would you like to submit an article, picture or story
ideas for The Curling Connection? Now’s your chance!
The Curling Connection is distributed at the end of
every month to over 5,500 curlers and curling fans.
The deadline for submission of articles and pictures
for the next issue is November 16.
Email Rebecca Connop-Price
rconnopprice@curlbc.ca if you would like to
contribute.
7
Nominate your
Community Sport Hero
The curling community is fuelled
by the hard work, dedication and
enthusiasm of volunteers and it
is essential that we recognize the
valuable contribution they make.
Sport BC and KidSport are looking
for coaches, officials, mentors and
administrators in Vernon, Port Alberni
and Tri-Cities who have dedicated
themselves to amateur sport.
So, if you know someone who goes
above and beyond to help more people
curl in one of those areas, nominate
them now for a Community Sport Hero
Award.
For more information, visit the
Sport BC website.
Goodbye Ellie
This week Curl BC bids farewell
to Ellie Lambert, who has been our
Communications and Marketing Manager
whilst Rebecca Connop-Price has been on
maternity leave.
Having never tried the sport before
joining the organization, Ellie has become
a curling convert as a result of her time at
with us and hopes to keep on curling this
year.
In the future, if you have any questions
regarding communications and marketing,
you can contact Rebecca by emailing
rconnopprice@curlbc.ca or phoning
604-333-3617.
Follow us on
social media
Stay up-to-date on all of Curl BC’s
latest news, photos and events
by following us on Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram.
October 2015
A note from Curl BC’s Chair
As the incoming Chair of your Board of Governors, I
wanted to welcome you to another curling season. We
expect that this year will see a number of changes as curling
continues to evolve and even more people discover the
game. Curling in BC has a long and successful history and
again this year we expect to see our competitions yield some
excellent athletes to compete at national and world events.
Despite Competitions being important, most curling
activities revolve around individual curling centres and
involve recreational curlers of all ages. Curl BC works hard to
ensure that the interests and needs of recreational curlers
and curling centres are met. There is a myriad of tools and
information for both individual curlers and for curling centres
which can be found on the Curl BC website http://www.
curlbc.ca/membership/prospective-members.
At the September 2015 Board of Governors’ meeting, we
re-committed ourselves to enhancing curling in BC with a
focus on how we can support both the curling centres and
their volunteers. We are in the process of re-naming and
shifting the Introductory and Recreational Curling Committee
focus to better reflect the requirements of curling centres.
The committee will now have a mandate to “Grow, develop
and experience increased participation through active
support.”
Over the past year, the BC Government has been working
on a new act regulating not-for-profit organizations. There
will be a requirement for each not-for-profit to re-write its
Constitution and By-Laws and Curl BC is working to make this
transition as easy as possible for curling centres. Vice Chair
Peter Muir and Curl BC Staff are developing an adaptable
template that will make it easier for centres to meet this
government requirement.
Clearly this is one small step. We do need your help and
any and all ideas regarding how we can support our people
are welcome. I will endeavor to keep you informed as we
work together to enhance curling in BC.
Paul Addison
Wherever You Stay
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8
October 2015
9
October 2015
Curl BC Office
2001A - 3713 Kensington Ave, Burnaby, BC V5B 0A7, Phone: 604-333-3616, Fax: 604-333-3615
Scott Braley
Penny Bartel
Will Sutton
Rebecca Connop
Price
Shannon Aleksic
CEO &
Executive Director
Participation
Manager
Educational
Programs Manager
Communications &
Marketing Manager
High Performance &
Competitions Manager
Lindsay Shannon Mel Murray
Administrative
Assistant
Campaign
Director
Curl BC Coaches
Melissa Soligo
Will Sutton
Darryl Horne, Gerry Richard, Karen Watson,
Cindy Tucker, Katie Witt, Brent Giles,
Ken MacDonald, Brad Kuhn, Brenda Nordin
Provincial Coach
Regional Coach
Consultant Coaches
Curl BC Officers
Paul Addison
Peter Muir
George Horner
Terry Vandale
Chair
Vice-Chair
Vice-Chair
Past-Chair
Curl BC Governors
Terry Vandale
George Horner
Ron Phillips
Teri Palynchuk
Deb Pound
Region 1&2
Region 3,4&7
Region 5&6
Region 8,9&10
Region 11
Paul Addison
Jan Mori
Peter Muir
Governor at Large
Governor at Large
Governor at Large
Contact information can be found at www.curlbc.ca/about/staff or www.curlbc.ca/about/board
10