International Junior Camp for Dumfries

This week, top junior curlers from Scotland, the winners of the U-17 Slam events, have been enjoying themselves at the World Curling Federation's Junior Camp in Fussen, Germany. If past camps are anything to go by, the young curlers will be having a great time, learning more about the sport and making new friends from elsewhere in the curling world.

The Royal Caledonian Curling Club will run two junior camps this summer (July 20-25 and August 3-8) using ice at the Galleon Centre, Kilmarnock and the facilities of Dolphin House, Culzean. Some photos from last year are here and here. The camps have been organised by Development Manager Judith McFarlane, currently in Fussen as is Dumfries Area Development Officer Graham Sloan.

The second of the two Scottish camps will have an international flavour. Kirsten Groenseth will be bringing the winning team from the Norwegian junior girls 13- 16 curling championships to Scotland.

Judith has talked about her plans to hold a full international camp here in Scotland, complementing the WCF efforts. The Ice Bowl in Dumfries was identified as a possible venue. And, probably well in advance of any official announcement, the news is already out in the public domain. Earlier this week (here) I said that the Homecoming Scotland initiatives did not seem to include any curling. I was wrong!

The programme of events (the cover is pictured above) can be downloaded from here. It flags up an INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CURLING CAMP next year. Referring also to the European Curling Championships taking place in Aberdeen in December next year, the programme says, "Young people from across Scotland and Europe will be inspired to improve their game at a curling camp assisted by top coaches and athletes. It’s a chance to meet fellow players from around the world and develop a lasting legacy of friendship in the country that invented the sport."

Dumfries is identified as the venue, with the dates still to be confirmed sometime in July or August 2009. An exciting prospect indeed! More details as they become available.

The juniors who won the opportunity to attend the WCF Junior Camp. Top L-R: Struan Wood, Colin Dick, Anna Sloan, Lauren Gray. Above: Jennifer Dodds, Tasha Aitken, Mairi Girvan, Mhairi Anderson. Photos by Bob.

The way ahead for the Royal Club

I drove home from the Royal Club AGM last month much depressed, and trying to work out where had it all gone wrong. Three years ago, curling's governing body in Scotland underwent a major re-organisation. At the Park Hotel in Kilmarnock on June 18, 2005, 180 club representatives voted in favour of the changes, with only five voting against. A Board of Directors was to be elected, on the basis of skills and knowledge they possessed, rather than where they came from. The mood at Kilmarnock was very positive.

Three years on, there are major rifts within the membership, and the mood is anything but positive. What has brought the problems to the surface has been the Board's determination to tackle how members should be represented in decision making processes. A Representative Review Working Group has been considering the problem. Under the Board (currently made up of three men and three women, plus the CEO and the Royal Club President) there are two main committees. The Area Standing Committee, with its members, both men and women, drawn from Areas which derive from the traditional division of clubs into Provinces, and the Ladies' Standing Committee which is made up of representatives of ladies' clubs, based around ice rinks.

At Cumbernauld last month there was much discussion about the consultations of the Representative Review Working Group. The concept that there should be just one Royal Club Standing Committee, doing away with the current Ladies' Committee, makes sense to many.

But not to all. Battle lines have been drawn. Ladies' Branch President Sheila Miller spoke passionately, referring to how the Ladies' Branch President used to be a member of the old RCCC Executive. She said, "We need to retain both standing committees and promote more interaction." She continued, "The vast majority of our members are determined that Ladies' Branch will survive. I see no advantage in having a single Royal Club Standing Committee to replace the two existing Standing Committees. In my view the status quo should remain."

And are members of the Area Standing Committee happy? Not a bit of it. Many see that their functions have been taken over by the Board, and they have been made redundant! They see that the Board should look after the business of curling, and the Area Standing Committee should run the sport in the country.

After the AGM, the new Board met: Lockhart Steele, Colin Grahamslaw (CEO), Bob Tait, Anne Malcolm, Irene Hird, Jeanette Johnston, Willie Nicolland Matt Murdoch (President), with Vice-president Bill Marshall in attendance. Bob Tait was elected as the Chairman. The minutes of that meeting, just published (here), give just a hint of what lies ahead.

The Board confirmed it was their intention to hold more joint meetings of the Board with the Area Standing Committee AND the Ladies Standing Committee. A meeting in October has been suggested to look at the outcomes from the Representative Review Working Group. Consultation on that continues until the end of August.

The Board agreed to trial Question and Answer sessions at four ice rinks across the country. These will give club curlers the opportunity to quiz Directors. Will these be a useful communication exercise, or will the sessions foster confrontation? I wonder.

The next meeting of the Board will be on July 23 to discuss a report from the Facilities Sub Group. A decision on the location of the preferred bidder for the National Curling Academy may be made then.

Let's hope we hear what's going to happen about the Vernon investigation then too!

L-R: Bill Marshall, Willie Nicoll, Lockhart Steele, Anne Malcolm, Bob Tait, Irene Hird, Colin Grahamslaw, Jeanette Johnston, Matt Murdoch. Pic by Bob.

A new blog is launched today

It is with a great deal of pleasure that Curling Today announces that it now has a companion - the Curling History blog (aka Curling Yesterday)! You will find it here: curlinghistory.blogspot.com.

It's a joint venture by me (Bob Cowan) and David B Smith, Scotland's curling historian. We hope that in the months ahead the blog will bring together others who are interested in the history of this great sport.

The new blog has been trialled for a week and there are a number of posts, as you will see if you go there! But what should the first 'live' post be about, on July 1, 2008?

That was really easy to decide. I've been following the progress of the Scottish Government's Homecoming Scotland initiative, which next year will celebrate Robert Burns, and Scottish culture, heritage and the many great contributions Scotland has given the world.

Homecoming Scotland is managed by EventScotland in partnership with VisitScotland (the Scottish Tourist Board). The programme of events starts on the weekend of Burns night (January 24-25, 2009) and continues right through to St Andrew's Night (November 30, 2009). It is all happening in 2009 because next year is the 250th anniversary of the birth of national poet Rabbie Burns. According to press blurb, "2009 will be a celebration of not only Robert Burns but some of Scotland's other great contributions to the world, namely golf, whisky, enlightenment and innovation and ancestry." The main themes are Scotland as the Home of Burns, Scotland as the Home of Whisky, Golf, the Scottish Enlightenment and Innovation, and the Home of our Ancestors.

No curling celebrations then? Not as far as I am aware, even though Scotland gave this sport to the world. And Rabbie Burns was a curler. Not many people know that. Find out how David Smith found out on the Curling History blog!

Masterclasses next season

In my final Scottish Curler editorial of the season I stated that the Royal Club Masterclasses were an initiative that the RCCC had got right. The objective of a Masterclass is to let club curlers experience something of what performance players are taught and learn during their training sessions. There were two last season. The first was at Kinross in December 28, described here. A second (see here) was held at the Lanarkshire Ice Rink, Hamilton, on January 27. Both were enjoyed by all who attended.

I am pleased to see then that two more will be held next season. Curl Aberdeen will host the first on Saturday November 8, 2008. Have a look at what the day involves here. The cost is £30 and includes lunch. Registration forms can be downloaded.

Ayr Ice Rink will be the venue for a second Masterclass on Sunday, December 7.

Top: New RCCC Chairman Bob Tait (on the right) took part in the Kinross Masterclass, here listening to Tom Pendreigh. Above: Claire Milne helps Ladies Branch President Sheila Miller with her split timing. Photos by Bob.

Research focus on curling

Colin Moulson is a Glasgow based optometrist specialising in 'sports vision'. This involves assessing the eyesight of elite sportsmen and women who then receive relevant advice on, for example, sight correction or eye muscle training.

Colin worked with the Scotland and GB curling squads with Mike Hay before his departure to join the British Olympic Association. He has written an article about vision and curling which has now been published in Optician magazine online. Find it here to read online, or you can download a pdf file from the page, part of which is shown above.

What do you think of Colin's findings and conclusions? A discussion thread is on the Scottish Curling Forum here.

It was fitting that one of the GB athletes be the 'face' of the article, and the Scottish Curler was able to supply the photo of Rhona, by Hugh Stewart.

Competitions' entry for new season

Have you entered yet? The closing date for Scotland's main curling competitions next season is Monday, June 30. So if you want to play in the Columba Cream Scottish Ladies' Championship, the Bruadar Scottish Men's, the Scottish Juniors, Mini Tour Men, Mini Tour Ladies, the Scottish Senior Mixed, the Scottish Seniors, the National Masters, the Scottish Mixed Doubles, or the Henderson Bishop, then you have very little time left to get your team's entry to Cairnie House. Entry forms can be downloaded here, or you can contact the Royal Club HQ by phone or email (details here).

Although the U-17 Slam events are already underway, teams can still sign up for the remaining four competitions. Monday is the deadline.

The entries for the Scottish Mixed do not close until November 30, 2008, and for the new Double Rink Championship for club teams until July 30.

It will be interesting to see how many teams enter for the various events. That will say something about the health of the competitive game in this country. There are unusual circumstances this season too. Clashes of dates with the World Universiade and the European Youth Olympics, and the fact that the Seniors' Championships are in New Zealand, with no guarantee of governing body help to cover costs, may see decreased entry numbers.

Entries for the Scottish Ladies' Championship (formerly called the Gold League) continue to decline. This year there will not even be a qualifying competition. But one bit of good news. A new team will take to the ice! Mairi Milne, who last season played fourth stones for Edith Loudon, takes the head now, with her sister Claire at third, Katie Loudon as second and Lynn Cameron as lead. Curling Today is not usually one for predictions but I will be surprised if this team is not up there challenging Team Wood and Team Munro! I look forward to the first round of games in this event - at Curl Aberdeen, November 21-23. The full competitions calendar is here.

Mairi Milne at the Gold League finals last season by Bob.

WCF appoints marketing partner

In the greater scheme of things for most curlers, today's announcement by the World Curling Federation (here) probably won't have much significance. But I found it very interesting! And it could have far reaching consequencies. Curling's world governing body has linked up with Infront Sports & Media to be the 'Official Marketing Partner of the World Curling Federation'. Way back in December (here) Curling Today indicated that this was in the offing.

Infront is based in Zug, Switzerland. It is a private organisation with over 400 employees and offices in eleven countries: Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, France, South Africa, Singapore and China. You will note that there is no presence in Canada, nor indeed the UK.

So what role will Infront play within the sport? Attracting sponsorship and maximising income is the key role. For example, Infront will market packages for sponsors, utilising exposure opportunities such as in-ice advertising, or stadium and venue advertising and combining these with official sponsorship status and designations, and the use of marks, hospitality and promotional opportunities.

The main events included in the contract are the Men's and Women's World Curling Championships and the European Curling Championships. We can take it from this that there has been co-operation with the European Curling Federation in working towards this agreement.

The contract is for three years in the first instance. That of course covers the Aberdeen European Championships. Other events such as the Juniors, Seniors, Mixed Doubles and the European Mixed are also covered by the agreement and it will be interesting to see if Infront has plans to raise the profile of these competitions. Also how the WCF agents can work alongside the local organising committees in attracting and sharing benefit from the sponsorship that is attracted.

Infront's role covers the exploitation of all media and marketing rights worldwide. Of course, there are existing agreements, and the press release notes that these are 'being reviewed with the partners concerned'.

The WCF has an existing contract with the Canadian Curling Association, which has been the Canadian marketing representative for many years, and of course currently delivers title sponsor Ford of Canada for World events in that country. The current contract was renewed last year for a two-year term. Also in Canada, TSN remains the official WCF broadcast partner in an agreement that is in place until 2014.

The production of the television feed for worldwide distribution will continue to be handled by the WCF, through its own WCTV.

The full text of the press release contains quotes from WCF President Les Harrison, and Infront President and CEO Philippe Blatter. In addition Bruno Marty, Executive Director Winter Sports, who will be responsible for the operational aspects of the new relationship, says, "We are looking forward to working with the World Curling Federation to give curling a strong base for future expansion. The sport has a lot to offer to both commercial and broadcast partners and it is our aim to unlock its full potential."