A little over a dozen area curlers got a step up on their competition at the Power Dodge Curling Centre last Friday thanks to a new adult curling clinic put on by Affinity Credit Union and CurlSask.
Amber Holland, executive director of CurlSask and skip of Saskatchewan’s 2011 national women’s championship team, led the two-hour lesson with fellow CurlSask coaches Travis Brown and Jade Ivan. The three instructors separated the students into three groups based on skill level and gave them lessons on how to improve their sliding, throwing and brushing techniques.
“You can’t teach a ton in two hours, so the idea is just to give them some basic tips on curling, better on what they do within their curling league and (give them) something they can work on when we go away,” said Holland. “We have three instructors here, because we usually have around 20 participants, so we (can) give some one-on-one attention.”
Jason Stepp, a student at the clinic and returnee to the sport after 22 years off the ice, said he attended the lesson to gain some exercise and a competitive edge in his recreational league. He said the clinic showed him how to slide out better and stay square to the broom giving him more confidence in the game.
Holland said CurlSask’s partnership with Affinity Credit Union for these clinics has helped them get more engaged in their clubs with community development programs, which is in addition to their traditional partnership at competitions. She said they’ve staged four clinics this year in Davidson, Watrous, Kamsack and finally Estevan with each providing an instructional boost to their area curlers.
“Two hours is a tight timeline to do something, so we may look at expanding the lengths of the clinics in the future,” said Holland. “But I think people appreciate that you have other people from outside the community come in and just take an involvement in what they’re doing and give them some tips. And hopefully they have some fun doing it.”
