Edmonton skip will dispense information, advice to players of all skill levels
By Norm Cowley, Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON – With Monday’s launch of the Kevin Martin Curling App, the 46-year-old former Canadian, world and Olympic curling champion entered a whole new world.
“There are very few athletes in the world who have an app,” Martin said Monday from Toronto. “Maybe five total.”
Curlers of all levels connected to the new technology will now have access to information about drills and skills, strategy and equipment, worldwide curling news and links to various curling websites.
“The most exciting part is the ‘Contact Kevin’ part,” Martin said. “You go on your phone or your tablet and you’re upstairs in the bar having a cocktail after your game and decide ‘I want to get a hold of Kevin.’ You push the button, agree to the price — $11.99 to get a hold of me.
“It’s very cool,” he continued. “Imagine if you’re at a golf course and you had an option to talk to Fred Couples. I would get a hold of Fred in a second. ‘Oh, Fred, I’m having trouble with my putting … .’
“It’s all brand new. Nobody’s ever done it before. It’s really fun.”
Martin said he will personally respond to every request, which he receives immediately after the query is sent. While the app costs only $1.99, the cost of the Contact Kevin service could change.
“The market will tell. If I get 1,000 a day, obviously, I’ve got to put the price up because that’s crazy. But if after three days we get nobody, then obviously we’re charging too much.
“I’d like to have 10 or 20 a day. Whatever price. Right now, it’s $11.99. Nobody’s ever done that, so we just pulled that number right out of the air.
“I don’t want to have one (response) a week because that’s not enough,” he said. “I’d like to talk to people from all over the world. I think it will be very attractive to people in Brazil and China, Japan, Korea, Europe asking questions about curling because they don’t have many instructors there.”