It started out as a fundraiser for the Harvey Curling Club in Harvey Station, NB.
Now Rob Swan has turned Curling Across the Nation into a way to promote the sport of curling across the country.
Swan’s tour brought him to Humboldt on Jan. 22 for a 6 end game with seven local curlers.
Promotion of the sport is badly needed, says Swan.
“Some of these clubs have never been showcased ever, either by the provincial association or the individual associations.”
The facility and the ice in Humboldt was great to play on, which is very lucky for Humboldt, says Swan.
The sport itself can be played from the age of five to 80, which is something few sports can boast about, says Swan. That should be highlighted and celebrated by municipal and provincial governments.
“Curling is unique in a way that it lets so much of Canadian society take part...there is not one aspect of Canadian society that is not eligible to take part in their respective community.”
Swan has seen leagues that incorporate every kind of Canadian from deaf, blind, and wheelchair leagues to leagues for LGBTQ and seniors.
No other sport is like that, says Swan.
Even with a triple metal showing at the Olympics, Swan says the provincial and municipal governments are not doing enough to support the sport.
For a lot of communities across Canada, the curling facility is the centre of the community but they have to face a lot of challenges to keep their rink open.
Saskatchewan’s suspension of the Community Rink Affordability Grant was a big mistake, says Swan, and they do not have anything to replace it. With some communities having to pay property taxes on their curling rinks is another factor of community curling that is detrimental to the sport, he says.
“You go to the hockey rink, they don’t have to pay property tax. You go to the soccer field and they don’t have to pay property tax.”
None of this is helping keep such an inclusive sport alive, says Swan.
If a community loses that, they lose the curlers that go to the provincial, national, and world competitions.
From Jan. 11-23, Swan curled 35 games in clubs around Saskatchewan, wrapping up the tour with the Sutherland Curling Club in Saskatoon before heading back to work in Alberta.
Since starting the tour two and half years ago, Swan has curled 215 games in curling clubs around the world.
Swan on average is playing about three games a day between his work schedule which translate to a lot of muscle and back pain medicine, he laughs.
“For me, where I work full time for two weeks and have two weeks off, I have to slam so many games in a short amount of time.”
Stupidity notwithstanding, Swan says he is having a lot of fun meeting new people in curling clubs all around Canada and the world. Since he has not returned to any clubs during his tours, he is always playing with or against new faces.
Swan also got to catch the tail end of the Tim Horton’s Youth Speil hosted by the Humboldt Curling Club. Having a junior development program or incorporating curling into school curriculums and having that new blood coming in is a major part of keeping the sport going.
Swan is back to work for a few weeks before taking his tour back on the road to northern Alberta, the Brier in March, and then a trip to southern Manitoba.
