Grassroots Curling: Busy off and on the ice this season

The 2011-2012 curling season is going to the busiest one ever - for me, anyway.

Am I a competitive curler with my sights set on zones and regionals? Am I signed up for multi-leagues, major leagues, three or more nights a week of rec curling at the local club?

Nope. But here's what I am doing:

1. Writing

I'm writing about curling. Writing a lot. Last year it was The Curling News; this year, it's the Canadian Curling Association's website. Here's a peek at what's on my To Do List:

Editing Featured Athlete profiles, some written by Al Cameron of the Calgary Herald; some (profiles of junior, wheelchair and blind curlers) written by me.

Editing and posting short newsy reports about the upcoming Season of Champions events - and there are hundreds of them! Multiples almost every day of the week.

Editing columns that appear on the website: Making Great Ice, House Call, Pebbles to Boulders, and my personal fave, Youth Olympic Dreams (I love the voice of Emily Gray, the young curler who writes about her journey towards competing in the 2012 Youth Olympic Games. What a sweetheart!)

Writing Around The House, a bi-monthly visit to curling clubs around the country - telling their stories.


Writing feature stories about the sport. My first big story will show up on the CCA website this week. No previews - sorry!


Lots of writing, lots of deadlines, lots of great curling content for fans and curlers alike. I'm thrilled to be part of it.


2. Curling


One night a week (Sigh. Wish it were more...) skipping a team in the Business Women's league at my local club. Haven't won a game yet. Don't care. Having fun!


3. Coaching


My son's high school is dipping its toes for the first time in the local high school curling league. No other parents have curling experience. None of the teachers are familiar enough with the game to coach. I'm it. Yikes! 


So a busy season ahead in my own curling life, and of course, a busy season ahead in the curlingspere too. Can't wait to share it here on Grassroots Curling.


******


....Oh, and did I mention that I'll be attending the Brier championship weekend in Saskatoon...?

And I hope Glenn Howard is there.... (Photo J. Mills)

Throwing Stones: More drama on the ice

It's long overdue: a television show about people who curl. Not elite curlers, not famous curlers, not crazy male curlers (think Men With Brooms). With the huge numbers of Canadians who curl, watch curling, and attend curling events every year, it's amazing that it's taken this long.

Unfortunately, the show was turned down by the CBC (send letters!) but at least curling fans get to see the pilot on Wed July 15. It stars Patty Duke (yes, that Patty Duke), Canadians Lolita Davidovich and Caroline Neron, as well as curling extras from the Winnipeg scene. Connie Laliberte served as a curling advisor for the series.

Canadian champion curler Jill Officer writes about her experiences as an extra on the show for The Curling News , which is worth a look, especially the part about trying to find curling clothes that are not black, red, white or adorned with logos.

Although the show was not picked up by the CBC, at least there's an effort being made by artists in Canada to let curling expand beyond the rink and into our culture. Men With Brooms was entertaining - pretty silly and unrealistic, of course, but entertaining. Curling kids in Canada and the United States have been reading my novel, Abby and the Curling Chicks. And a recent festival of short films in Toronto promoted the on-ice zombie feature, Deadspiel.

Let's hope the winds of change are blowing curling into the cultural - not just the sporting - landscape of Canada.