YORKTON - When it comes to attracting youth to sport it’s important they get introduced young.
And that was exactly the hope of two days of clinics for youth held at the Yorkton Curling Club Sunday and Monday.
On Sunday 64 youth – a full roster -- participated in a clinic geared toward those who already had at least a basic understanding of the sport, and had an interest in refining their skills. It was geared toward youth Grade 6-12, although it was not a school event.
Then on Monday, a ‘learn-to-curl’ session, which is more geared to beginners, with little, or no experience on the ice.
There were 32 schools in the area which had been contacted to have students involved in the Monday sessions, which included on-ice and off sessions, with more than 80 taking place, a number reduced by the weather conditions.
“We’re trying to get kids back to curling,” offered Dave Baron one of the local organizers in a recent Yorkton This Week story about the clinics.
Saskatchewan curler Kirk Muyres, who was part of the 2011 Canadian Junior Curling Championship team, was one of the instructors. He said just seeing so many young players out on the ice was gratifying.
“It’s great they are here and you want them to have some fun,” he said, adding that’s the first step, having youth having fun learning the techniques of the game, sweeping, sliding and throwing rocks.
“You want them excited about the sport. That’s so important.”
Muyres said everyone – youth included – have so many recreational options these days, ranging across a long list of sports, but also dance, video games and more, and that’s a good thing. In fact, he said he believes youth should try many things, exploring until they find what they truly enjoy.
Of course Muyres said he also believes curling has a lot to offer in terms of being something youth embrace.
Curling can take you to the highest levels, playing professionally around the world, he said.
“If you work really hard there’s the opportunity to be great,” said Muyres.
It can put you into provincial play where you can be the ‘local hero’.
Or, it can just be a life-long sport enjoyed at the local club level, added Muyres.
“Anybody can play the sport,” said Muyres, adding in comparison to other sports curling is even a reasonably priced option.
Of course the next step is to keep the youth attending the clinics involved with curling.
To that end CurlSask has a new initiative this year, a “series of U15 Triples Spiels designed to support young curlers love of the game and provide the opportunity to practice their skills, and meet curlers from across Saskatchewan.”
Triples Curling is a new discipline that has been developed by Curling Canada. As its name suggests, curlers compete in teams of three when playing ‘Triples’. All ends consist of six shots per team, with each player throwing two of those shots.
Triples games consist of three ‘sets’ of two ends each. Each set can be seen as a two-end ‘mini-game’, with each team playing with the hammer for one of these ends and without the hammer for the other.
One of the unique features of the Triples discipline is that curlers are required to play a different position (i.e., lead, middle, and skip) for each set of the game.
Yorkton hosts one of the U15 events Nov. 5 and 6.
These spiels assist in the preparation for those playing in the U15 Triples Cup.
