Now at the risk of losing credibility I can admit I have only ever been on the ice once...many moons ago and I quickly realised that the likelyhood of me ever being an asset to any team was absolute ZERO!

However that said I have been an enthuisiastic supporter of curling for 18 years as the parent of a child very active in the sport. He/she will remain anonymous!

And let me tell you that role can be a very strenuous one! My nails are always in shreds by the end of a competition and my partner has bruises on his thighs from me grabbing him when key shots are played!

Every year I have a standing booking for my holidays so I can attend the Scottish championships and its not just what happens on the ice that makes me do this. The atmosphere up in the bar is fantastic  and I know when I'm there I can totally shut my brain off from my job...and thats what holidays are for!

That said my job involves me in managing a number of "teams" and I pride myself on focusing on people rather than financial success.
I've found it's quite simple if you have team that all work together and have a common goal and vision ,success always follows.

I'm sure this is the same for any sporting team!

Thanks Sandy!!

You are probably right too...but isn't that a sad state of affairs!

Politics and Bureaucracy are rife in many areas and obviously Curling is not immune.

Often major catastrophes can bring about a lot of good.. I hope what happened in Vernon will prove this theory correct!

I can understand why the "Grass root curlers" resent the money afforded to the elite squads and the focus on the Olympics but lets be honest if Curling was accepted as a spectator sport of interest to the media money would come flooding into the sport from many areas. The best way to gain that exposure is Olympic success.

Rhona's gold medal made a dent  but a second medal of any colour at the Olympics may actually break down the walls.

I'm currently exciled in England and it frustrates the hell out of me that some entrepeneur with vision has not had the courage to set up a rink in an easily accesible area . Sheffield springs to mind as an excellent location.

I'm slightly biased cause I live close to it!

But if the sport is going to get the recognition it deserves as a spectator sport it has to grow South of the border...its sad but its a fact of life!

Might cause problems in the future cause then it would be a GB Olympic team rather than a Scottish team and would need a selection process...but as an interim we could have a GB championship as well as the Scottish and have teams of "mixed" nationality playing as a team for the season!

get in touch with the Sheffield rink, I know for a fact that they have curling stones and that they were going to try and make in roads into the corporate market initially with a view to setting up some beginners "come and try" type sessions.

Sorry looks like some of my comments got mixed up with the quotes I was answering in the last post - so just to make it clear:

Fenton's is doing a great job in Kent and has attracted a large number of people to curling and has also produced the first Junior Girls' team to represent England. It is a very busy rink, quite often selling out at the weekends - that 5 sessions with 3 sheets each session in an area with no history of curling. There are a good number of very enthusiastic new regular curlers - many of them posters to this forum.

and

All English and Welsh curlers were able to express an interest in being selected for the GB Olympic squad and I know that some did but were unsuccessful. It is a GB Olympic team and always has been open to non-Scots - and going back to previous selection processes English and Welsh teams participated in the 1998 qualifying competitions. But it must be remembered that the ECA and the WCA are members of the WCF in their own right and would be unlikely to make way for a GB team to play in the Europeans.

Bob

I quite agree ...I get as much fun "People watching"  as the actual curling.

One problem I have had is drumming into my partner the "ethics" of the sport but he"s getting there he doesn't get kicked in the shins as much as he used to!

One comment I would make is that Gerry Geurts was fantastic at Perth.
My partner is fascinated by the tactics and how the stats are calculated and Gerry was more than happy to explain when he had the time to do so.

He's also become a great ambassador for the sport in Yorkshire and he's a natural salesman so if things do happen in Sheffield I'll try to get him working on spreading the "gospel"