Curling's CIRCLE: a new concept for our sport

John Minnaar heads up a small but enthusiastic group of Scottish icemakers. For some years now he has been working towards his vision of what curling rinks in Scotland could be like in the future, and how much they would cost to build and run. His ideas have now been launched. Read about the CIRCLE here.

There is a pdf file (The Circle Rink) to download. This document is part business plan, part an essay on the state of curling in Scotland, and makes interesting reading for anyone with a serious interest in the future of our sport.

Essentially, the Curling-Ice Research Centre for Leisure and Excellence is a prototype for a curling rink of the next generation. It would combine day-to-day curling with research, development, qualified education and analyses of all matters relating to the sport of curling. The Circle would be fully independent and a self-financing facility once construction was complete. The Circle would be the best curling rink in the world, where beginners, club curlers and elite squads would be equally welcome.

A four-sheeter rink, built efficiently (for less than £1,000,000) to be economic to maintain and operate, would be the working model, hopefully, for future builds.

What John is doing now is assessing the feeling out there amongst the curling community. No financially commitment is being asked for. Rather, curlers are being asked to email or write to declare their support.

Discussion opportunities are on the Scottish Curling Forum.