Curling across the province has seen a generational gap. People between their 20s and 40s haven’t been too involved in the running of local clubs, but times are changing and this group is being pulled back into the rink via their children who are being introduced to the sport through local clubs drumming up interest and CurlSask focusing on developing youth.
The Wawota Curling Club hosted a Youth Clinic with CurlSask’s Susan Lang, Development and Marketing Manager. A total of 21 youngsters from the Wawota area attended the clinic to learn and develop as young curlers.
The clinic began at 10 a.m. and the youth learned a lot by the time they left at 4 p.m. With lunch and snacks it was a fun day for local youth to take to the ice to learn the basics or refine their skills. They focused on just over three hours of instruction on the ice, went over strategies and other off-ice information, and then played mini games to end the day.
“The day is going really well,” Lang stated. “They’re a very active group and it’s been a good time.”
“My title is Development and Marketing Manager, but what that really means is I’m just trying to get people on the ice. And we’re starting to do that at a younger age than we’ve traditionally done. Up until a few years ago grade six was the youngest kids that we’d have out, but now we’re starting in grade one with teaching curling skills and having fun. Parents who didn’t play are now looking at it because it’s introducing the sport to the whole family because we do have that missing generation.”
“For the really young kids we do lots of fun things and they learn basic athletic skills in an active and safe manner. It’s a very accessible sport – there are clubs everywhere, it’s rather inexpensive, it’s accommodating of all body types, and it’s a very social sport.”
“It’s also a very good physical sport, not as in a contact sport, but physical as in a very good cardio workout.”
The missing generation is attributed to the popularity of the sport prior.
“There used to never be open ice, there was always so much interest, so we didn’t have the opportunity to really focus on getting younger people into the sport, which is why we had about 10 to 15 years of open ice with not a lot of people going out. This is why it’s so important to run programs like this and help clubs across Saskatchewan plan and grow.”
One of the best things about curling, according to Lang, is that it is a lifelong sport which develops friendships.
“Curlers get to meet each other and for these kids maybe when they go off to school they’ll find they want to put a curling team together and will call up people from their younger years who happen to be in the same city as them. The connections curlers make are important.”
“We’re trying to get younger people to come out,” Elly Van Winkoop, a Wawota Curling Club board member, explained. “We have a missing generation in that 20, 30, 40 age range, so we’ve been trying to get people out with Fun Nights every Friday. We’re getting school curlers and curlers in that 55 plus range, so we’re looking at that lost generation and looking to them to take over. It’s a lifelong hobby.”
Fun Nights are $5 to play for non-members and are free for members of the Wawota Curling Club.
“We usually bring an appy in, play a few ends, and the upstairs is open as well,” Van Winkoop added.
Carla Weatherald, teacher and school curling coach, added, “We’re trying to focus on the youth and build their numbers because curling is something everyone can do. We have kids from eight-years-old to our oldest member is 88 playing in our rink. It doesn’t matter if your athletic or not, young or old, it’s something you can do forever.”
“It’s not very expensive either,” Van Winkoop says. “Your initial start up cost is a little bit, but everyone can do it and you can play your whole life, especially now that they can use the stick, there’s no excuses.”
“The winters are long in Saskatchewan so it’s something fun to do.”
Weatherald added, “It’s a great way for new people to a community to meet their neighbours and make contacts in the community. It’s not all about competition; it’s about having fun and being active.”
Encouraging youth to take up curling in the area the Wawota Curling Club is also hosting a Youth Bonspiel on Saturday, Jan. 23. Cost is $100 per team, which includes lunch, and prizes! The club asks that you pre-register with them by Jan. 20, by either contacting Carla at 306-739-2835 or Neena at 306-739-2433. A maximum of 10 teams will be taken and the start time is to be announced.
