(by Mitch MacDonald)
With a couple minor adjustments, just about any sport can be accessible to everyone.
Some of Prince Edward Island’s best curlers and community leaders teamed up to prove that while also raising funds for Spinal Cord Injury P.E.I. at the Crapaud Curling Club Saturday.
The day saw 16 teams face off in the “Rock ‘n’ Roll” wheelchair curling funspiel.
Charlottetown-Sherwood MLA Robert Mitchell helps Cornwall resident Dawn Mitchell get her stick on the stone during the “Rock ‘n’ Roll wheelchair curling funspiel at the Crapaud Curling Club Saturday.
Guardian photo by Mitch MacDonald
“People with disabilities played too but every person on their team would have to curl from a wheelchair (for at least three ends) as well, so it was a lot of fun,” said Paul Cudmore, executive director of SPI P.E.I.
Arms and accuracy are crucial to wheelchair curling, which can be a challenge for even the best curlers at first, he said.
“It may look easy but I tease Kathy O’Rourke all the time… She’s one of the best curlers in our province, in the world, but even she had a hard time doing it when she first tried. It’s not easy to do,” he said. “Once she got onto it, how to hold the stick and curl the rock, she’s really good now.”
O’Rourke, a six-time provincial Scotties champion, was one of the tournament’s organizers along with Kellys Cross-Cumberland MLA Valerie Docherty.
O’Rourke said the idea came from participating in last year’s Chair-Leaders event, which saw well-known Islanders and politicians use a wheelchair for the day.