The Baysville Curling Club is about to open its first curling season for children who want to play or learn to play the sport.
The formation of the youth league, which begins playing next month, is the club’s innovative method to boost membership by promoting curling to children aged 8 to 16. The Baysville club will also provide instruction to players on the two youth teams through club members who are volunteering to become accredited trainers.
The youth program idea became reality after the club acquired a complete set of children’s curling equipment through a Community in Action Fund grant from the Ministry of Health Promotion, and a donation of 16 embroidered fleece vests in two team colours from Tim Hortons’ Timbits children’s curling program on behalf of their stores in Huntsville and Bracebridge. Hopes for the program’s success are high according to Jennifer Schnier, community and recreation co-ordinator for the Township of Lake of Bays.
“Baysville will have the equipment for a full children’s curling league,” said Schnier. “We started talking over a year ago about how to help the curling club increase its membership and started talking about a children’s curling program. We felt that there would be more teenagers playing if they had support to do so.”
Two sets of children’s curling rocks (32 rocks) engraved with the Active 2010 and True Sport logos, the Tim Hortons fleece vests and sixteen youth-sized brooms were presented to the Baysville Curling Club’s executive council during a meeting on Sunday. The rocks are the same size as the adult version, but weigh 25 lbs. each instead of the standard 40 lbs.
Hugh Knox, president of the Baysville Curling Club, said he hopes the young curlers will enable the club to reinstate their junior program.
“The Baysville After School group is interested in becoming involved in the youth league and we are very happy about that,” said Knox. “The point of the program is to get young people used to curling and perhaps move through the system to join a junior program when they are 19 or 20 years old. We used to have a junior program, but had to close it down. When the money became available for the children’s program, we began new plans.”
ROCK ON:
Carissa Lavalee from theBaysville After School Program curls with the one of the two new sets of light rocks that were purchased through a Community in Action Grant from the Ministry of Health Promotion. Lavalee is enjoying curling at the Baysville Curling Club, where they have begun an eight-week curling program for youth between the age of 9 and 12.