Cowichan Rocks Curling Club’s Tuesday night mixed curling league is going great guns this year, reports league coordinator and recreation centre manager Linda Blatchford.
“We have five full teams and are making up a sixth team each week using spares and people willing to come out once in a while,” Blatchford told the Gazette. “It is a fun league, not so competitive (as the Monday and Wednesday night leagues, coordinated by the Cowichan Rocks Curling Club’s president Thor Repstock). It’s a perfect place for new curlers to start out.
Blatchford says they can accommodate eight full teams in this league, so there’s still room for more. She would love to encourage inexperienced curlers to give curling a try, or even encourage people who have curled in the past to come back to the game.
“People with bad backs or knees can once again curl effectively using the stick,” Blatchford added. “The stick is a wonderful tool for pushing the rock while standing and walking rather than by squatting and coming out the hack.”
Blatchford also noted that using the stick has improved her game enormously.
Cowichan Lake Recreation Centre provides a number of pieces of house equipment (brooms, sticks, and sliders) that are available for everyone to use. The fact that someone doesn’t have their own equipment shouldn’t deter them from coming out, the recreation centre manager says.
Blatchford also announced a new league that will be starting up in January 2013 – the Stick Curling and Lunch League – scheduled for Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. This league, she says, is perfect for those who do not wish to drive after dark, and has the added advantage of allowing people to give curling with sticks a try to see how it works and also to socialize over lunch before heading home.
Then, a five-week session for kids five years old and up will be offered, where members of the curling club give introductory curling skills to youngsters in an effort to see curling continue to grow in the community.
Regular curling leagues run until approximately March 9.