The ice plants are being turned on at the larger PEI curling clubs, which will be opening in early October, while curling is about a month away at some of the smaller rinks. Off the ice, though, activity is well underway. Danny Lamoureux, the Canadian Curling Association’s Director of Curling Club development, was in Charlottetown recently to meet with PEI curling club managers and presidents. He outlined the strategies the CCA has in place to capitalize on the publicity that will be gained from the hundreds of hours of TV exposure that curling will get this season, particularly at the 2010 Winter Olympics in February. These strategies include exciting new curling TV ads, and a new website, soon to be launched, which will help introduce prospective new curlers to the game. He said that social networking, using websites such as “facebook” and “twitter” would be heavily used by the CCA to help introduce a new audience to curling, and advised curling clubs to use their websites to get on the social networking bandwagon. He also outlined a new program, piloted at several curling clubs last year, and adopted from a program used to great success in the USA, to bring new curlers into a club, and provide an extensive training program to bring them up to speed quickly. This program has been highly successful, with almost all participants becoming active curlers.
Photo: Danny Lamoureux, Director, Curling Club Dev’t, CCA
Meanwhile, curling coaches of all levels got the chance to participate in a Coaches Workshop, run by the PEI Curling Association’s Technical Director, Gayle Johnston. Guest speakers included Olympic pentathlete Kara Grant, who spoke on how to the importance of training and dedication in becoming an elite athlete. She paid tribute to the many coaches and trainers who helped her in her journey to two Olympics, and helped her stay focussed on her goal.
Photo: Kara Grant, Olympic Pentathlete
Photo: Dr. Kim Davies, Sports Psychologist
Other speakers included PEICA Present Shirley Lank, Executive Director Stephen Marchbank, and curling official Cliff Poirier.
Some of the highlights of the upcoming curling season will be the selection of PEI’s Canada Games participants for the 2011 Games, and the Tim Hortons Brier, in Halifax.