PLAIN TEXT VERSION

1 PLAIN TEXT VERSION

CONTENTS

RCCC OFFICIALS & STAFF ...... 3 WELCOME ...... 4 BOARD ...... 4 DEVELOPMENT ...... 6 COMPETITIONS ...... 8 FINANCES ...... 9 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ...... 10 MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS ...... 10 PERFORMANCE ...... 12 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ...... 14 SAFEGUARDING ...... 16 PARTNERSHIPS & SPONSORS ...... 16 RECOGNITION AWARDS ...... 16 INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION & RESULTS ...... 17

2 PLAIN TEXT VERSION

RCCC OFFICIALS & STAFF

Patron HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

Honorary Members HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF | G ROY SINCLAIR

President 2020/21 ANDREW KERR

Vice President 2020/21 SUSAN KESLEY

Board of Directors GRAHAM LINDSAY (Chair) LIZ BURTON-KING BRUCE CRAWFORD (Chief Executive Officer) JIM CULLEN STEPHEN FARROW (Independent) ANDREW KERR (RCCC President 2020/21) SUSAN KESLEY CORRIE LAWRENCE (Co-opted | RCCC Ladies Branch President 202/21) KERRA MCKINNIE (Independent) MARGARET NICOL KEITH PRENTICE KEVIN TROUP (Independent) JANINE WILSON

Staff SCOTT ANDREWS (Development Manager | South West Scotland) LINDSEY BOOTH (Welfare Officer) BRUCE CRAWFORD (Chief Executive Officer) NICOLA GLENCROSS (Finance Administrator) PAMELA GRAHAM (Marketing Officer) FIONA HARFIELD (Workforce Development Manager) (Academy Manager) ELAINE MILLS (Administrator) NICK RENNIE (Head of Development) IAIN STEWART (Development Manager | National Projects and North & East Scotland) JAYNE STIRLING (Competitions Manager) SUZY WAKEFIELD (Office Manager) MAGGIE WILSON (Development Manager | Central Scotland)

Development Officers ROBIN BRYDONE (Dundee Ice Arena) ANN-MAREE DAVIDSON (Dewars Centre, Perth) ANGELA KYLE (Ayr Ice Rink) HAMMY MCMILLAN (The Peak, Stirling) JIM MORRISON (East Kilbride & Lanarkshire) LAURA MUTCH (Curl Aberdeen) GRAHAM SLOAN (Dumfries Ice Bowl)

3 PLAIN TEXT VERSION

WELCOME

I am delighted to bring you the Annual Report of the Royal Caledonian Club for season 2020/21. It has been the most unusual year in our 183-year history with some sadness, but there are positive results that are highlighted in the Annual Report.

On the 9th of April 2021, the Royal Caledonian Curling Club mourned the loss of Honorary Member, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, Past President 1964/65. The President wrote to our Patron Her Majesty the Queen, expressing our sorrow and our Men’s Team wore black armbands at the World Championship in Calgary that day as a mark of respect.

The restrictions that have been in place due to the pandemic may have reduced our opportunity to curl, but we have been as busy as ever in supporting our facilities and preparing for the time when curling could resume. Working in greater partnership has been key to the progress and success we have achieved, in particular with the Scottish Ice Rink Association, sportscotland, UK Sport, Event Scotland, British Curling and the .

We suffered from a complete lack of domestic curling competitions for our members to meet each other and play but have been busy with online activity. Some of the achievements we managed to accomplish were creating guidance for the safe return to curling, frequently requiring to be updated as government advice and regulations evolved. We managed to run 32 training courses online and offered members the chance to “Curl Up” and join us from the comfort of their homes to hear from experts and have open discussions on different aspects of curling.

The World Curling Federation cancelled many of the international events and only played the Olympic qualification events in covid secure bubbles in Calgary for Mens and Womens and Aberdeen for the Mixed Doubles. The Scottish Men represented by Team Mouat, took silver, and went on to win back-to-back Slams. The Scottish Women finished in eighth position at the Worlds and in Mixed Doubles, the Scottish Team beat Norway in the final to become World Champions. These results mean the Men and Mixed Doubles have earned an Olympic berth for TeamGB, while the Women must play in the Olympic Qualification event in December, where the last two places are being contested for Beijing 2022.

The increasing levels of vaccination and falling cases of COVID-19 in Scotland give us hope that the new season will bring a return to some normality. I look forward to seeing you on the ice next season and trust you stay safe and enjoy curling again as soon as you are able.

Bruce Crawford Chief Executive Officer

BOARD

The board continued to conduct its business throughout the past year, using online video meetings and met on eight occasions. Uppermost in the thoughts of the directors has been the health and welfare of members, whist also supporting the long-term future of the sport through working with the ice rinks to sustain their businesses when they are able to reopen, after the extended period of closure.

4 PLAIN TEXT VERSION

The board agreed to offer members the opportunity to “Pause” their membership for the year, which over 2,500 members elected to do. The impact of this was significant but with reduced outgoings in some areas of operation the board felt it was the right thing to do.

At the AGM in 2020, a commitment was given to improve communications and engagement with members. The board approved a new Engagement and Communication Strategy which has been put into action through our usual communication channels. There have been a number of surveys online and webinars held with good turn out from members at a time when many were not thinking about curling at all. The board also formed a working group to review the branding of RCCC and Scottish Curling and this has led to a clear policy document to guide those involved in the use of the two brands the reflect our history and traditions while also focusing on future development and growth of curling in Scotland. A huge response from members helped to shape the policy now in place so thanks to all involved in the group and as individuals who responded to the survey.

A working group was formed to conduct a deeper review of the Board’s previous decision to use selection of teams to represent Scotland at future World Curling Championships. This group heard a range of input from athletes, coaches, funders and other stakeholders. They consulted widely and held open meetings online before making a recommendation to the board, which was subsequently approved to continue to select teams for international representation at World Men, Women and Mixed Doubles events.

The board is currently reviewing the 2019-2023 Strategic Plan to incorporate a post pandemic refresh at the midpoint in the cycle. After the 2022 AGM, there will be a deeper review and preparation will begin for the next Strategic Plan for 2023-2027.

The Structure Review Group, set up by the board, paused during the first part of the season and then returned with some meetings and webinar engagement sessions. Strong feedback was received in relation to changes to national committees (ASC, LSC and the proposed new MNC) so no proposals for changes to the committee structure will be taken forward this year. The one item that received support from the majority of people consulted over the last few years was the addition of Junior Vice President position instead of Past President role which has not been useful or valued. This will give individuals a two-year period as an office bearer before becoming President, to ensure that they are better prepared. The board also agreed to put to the members that no more than two of the three presidential posts shall be of the same gender.

A hugely significant achievement this year was securing the £2m support package from Scottish Government for our ice rinks who were struggling with the ongoing costs and lack of activity and income. This was achieved by effective lobbying to government and working in partnership with the Scottish Ice Rink Association. We urge members to support their ice rinks in the years ahead as the immediate threat may have been addressed but many of the challenges remain.

The board has improved the governance structures and processes and recognise this work will continue. A new Nominations Committee has been formed and a small group led by Jim Cullen have proposed amendments to the Memorandum and Articles.

Curling in Scotland continues to thrive, thanks to countless volunteers in clubs, ice rinks and committees. Many have done their volunteering from home over video link this year and we wish to thank them for their continued commitment.

5 PLAIN TEXT VERSION

DEVELOPMENT

As with all aspects of daily life, it has been an unprecedented year for our sport with very little (or indeed no) curling taking place at ice rinks across Scotland.

With the pandemic affecting everyone, supporting the curling community became even more important. We diligently worked to adapt our existing programmes and launched new initiatives to ensure curling remained at the forefront during what has been a challenging year.

COVID Guidelines

A large part of our work has been working closely with the Scottish Government and sportscotland to navigate the return to curling guidelines.

Despite hopes of a normal season, it soon became clear that any curling would be subject to some form of restrictions.

In early summer 2020 we developed guidance on the safe return to curling including procedures ice rinks should have in place to mitigate any risk of transmitting COVID-19. This guidance evolved in line with that from the Government, and each revision was approved by sportscotland. Ice rink facilities were subject to additional guidance, including changes to air handling to ensure adequate circulation of fresh air.

In September 2020 some ice rinks began to reopen. The main modification to game play was the change to one sweeper; despite this alteration members were glad to be back on the ice. In total, 12 ice rinks were able to open for curling in the 2020/21 season but unfortunately by the end of December local and national restrictions lead to closure of all these ice rinks.

A cold snap in early 2021 allowed for the welcome sight of members taking to frozen lochs and ponds for some outdoor curling. Due to lockdown restrictions in place at the time bonspiels were not possible. The outdoor sport guidance allowed curlers to take to the ice with up to 6 people from 2 household, provided they stayed close to home.

Ice Rink Support

Due to the prolonged closures caused by the pandemic, many ice rinks faced an uncertain future. Ice rinks were confronted with difficult decisions with regards to whether to open at all for the 2020/21 season. Scottish Curling and the Scottish Ice Rinks Association successfully lobbied the Scottish Government for support for ice rinks and in December 2020 a 2million fund was established by the Scottish Government specifically to support these facilities.

In March 2021 the following ice rinks were awarded grants: Inverness Ice Centre Ltd, Kirkcaldy Ice Rink Ltd, South of Scotland Ice Rink Club, Lockerbie, Lanarkshire Ice Rink PLC/Lanarkshire Ice Rink Club, Hamilton, Greenacres Curling Ltd, Howwood, Curl Edinburgh, The Ice Rink Club, Curl Aberdeen, Ayr Curling Club/Ayrshire Curlers Ltd, Border Ice Rink Club, Kelso, Forfar Indoor Sports Ltd, Kinross Curling Trust Ltd and Stranraer Ice Rink.

Despite restrictions making developing curling challenging we were able to progress the following development programmes.

6 PLAIN TEXT VERSION

Curl Up At Home

The Curl Up series, launched in December 2020, was a chance for us to engage with our members and discuss curling from the comfort of their own home. We delivered a range of exciting webinars to appeal to the whole curling community with several excellent guest speakers. Special thanks to British Curling athletes for their contributions and to Frazer Shaw, Alan Stanfield, John McGowan, Eoin McCrossan, and David Ramsay for their much- appreciated involvement.

We held fifteen Curl Up events, with a total attendance of 1134. Our most popular webinar was the World Men’s Curling Championship Watch Party: Scotland vs Canada game, with 187 tuning in. Coming in at second place with 117 attendees was Talking Tactics.

Looking ahead to the return of curling next season we are busy planning more Curl Up sessions to help members get enthused and prepared for getting back on the ice from September.

Moving On

The Moving On initiative was run via social media and a direct email to junior members around school leaver age. It was aimed at facilitating a continuation of curling among youngsters moving away from home for education or work. Working with the Scottish Student Curling committee several young curlers were helped to continue their curling participation in a new rink. The initial feedback was that this was a worthwhile exercise and one we should repeat each year. This summer, a similar promotional push around SQA results day, will take place. Any young curler moving from home can complete an online form and Scottish Curling will help them connect with their potential new ice rink, student club and/or club. We also plan to launch a Moving On ‘Part 2’ with a similar online form approach backed up with an online campaign, where we will help graduating students move to a new locality.

Future Leaders

The Scottish Curling Future Leaders Program is facilitated in partnership with the Scottish Curling Trust, to develop leadership skills in young curlers. The programme was first set up in 2018 and has grown in relevance as a forum for motivated and committed young curlers to help Scottish Curling shape the future of the game. The young people set a series of personal development goals for the year along with developing their CV and life skills. They also support curling activities both in their local ice rink and nationally.

This year we have held Zoom based sessions. Some highlights include inspirational guest speakers like ex-Scotland Basketball Commonwealth Games captain and Team GB Olympian, Kieron Achara who shared his life story, coming from modest means to becoming a professional athlete. Another great session was with world renowned Mindset and Performance guru Alistair McCaw who has worked with many of the World’s top athletes and sports teams. Alistair shared his insights into being ‘Champion Minded’ as a route to success. The final keynote speaker of the season was the hugely impressive Craig Mathieson, founder of the Polar Academy charity. Craig offers young people who may not otherwise have the opportunity, to undertake expeditions to the North Pole.

7 PLAIN TEXT VERSION

Floor Curling Training

When it became apparent that few schools would be able to go along to their local ice rink and participate in ‘Curling’s Cool’, our primary school programme, we adapted our approach to train school staff to deliver Floor Curling. This would still give children the opportunity to experience curling and whet the appetite for getting on the ice the following year. With a grant secured from World Curling we were able to purchase a pallet of Floor Curling sets for schools to use. School staff in fourteen Local Authority areas were trained and we will continue to work with them in the next academic year.

Ice Rink Development webinar

A webinar was held in March 2021 with over 60 key people from ice rinks across Scotland taking part.

The webinar focused on ways to reinvigorate curling at the start of next season after an extended break, and discussed the following topics:

• Curling to Bounce Back - how we retain as many existing curlers as we can after an 18-month gap. • Recruitment campaign to attract new curlers to the sport through TRY Curling • Fully capitalize on the increased profile of an Olympic and Paralympic season.

We will be working hard over the summer to create twenty-one Ice Rink based Development Plans, on how we pull all the relevant stakeholders and resources together to focus on retaining existing curlers, as well as attracting, and keeping, as many new people to our great sport.

COMPETITIONS

Season 2019/20 came to a premature end, with Scottish Curling cancelling a number of its late season events, but hopes were high that we would bounce back with a successful 2020/21 season. As the summer progressed and September drew closer, significant work was done in an effort to get our competition season underway.

We worked closely with our partners at host ice rinks on venue layouts, draw timings, and schedules for use of hospitality areas under an ever-evolving set of Scottish Government restrictions. We are extremely grateful to our host rinks for their effort, creativity, and support in trying to get our members back on the ice in a competitive environment while balancing the needs of their local curlers.

The Competitions Committee (made up of staff, board members, and member representatives) carefully considered the feasibility of each competition taking place within the Scottish Government restrictions. Where appropriate, competition entrants were surveyed to gauge their feelings and interest in taking part, as the committee was keen to acknowledge that although restrictions may have allowed competitions to go ahead, some entrants may not feel comfortable taking part.

As the winter months continued, increased restrictions regarding travel between local authority areas and car sharing made the logistics of gathering participants for our

8 PLAIN TEXT VERSION competitions extremely challenging. Unfortunately, what was hoped to be a small number of cancellations at the beginning of the season became a month or two of cancellations at a time, and then in mid-January the decision was taken that no Scottish Curling competitions would take place during Season 2020/21.

The cancellation of each event was extremely disappointing, but the committee agreed that leading with an abundance of caution in an effort to minimise the spread of COVID-19 was the correct decision.

FINANCES

The last financial year has been challenging for all organisations as a result of COVID-19 and Brexit. This was the case for the Royal Caledonian Curling Club and we have taken steps to reduce costs to reflect the reduction in income. We were fortunate and thankful that our significant investment of grant funding from sportscotland remained unaffected and there was an allowance for flexibility in regard to how it was used in recognition of the unique challenges faced by all sports governing bodies.

The position at the end of the financial year shows a deficit of £6,887 that has reduced our general reserves. This means that reserves held by the organisation now stand at £239,948 or 24% of turnover. Turnover was down from £1,010,542 to £862,668. The operating deficit for the year was £7,124 but without one-off grants linked to covid would have been £31,090.

Given the hardship being faced by some members and the prospect of little or no curling, the board made the decision to allow members to pause their membership for the season. Over 2,500 members chose that option which led to a reduction in membership income by £55,568. Another significant impact was the lack of opportunity for members to compete so there was no competition income at all for the year and those that did enter were either refunded in full or the entry fee was carried forward to next season. In addition to the loss of entry fees, we were unable to secure sponsorship for competitions, which impacts our ability to reclaim VAT as we have a partial exemption for being a members organisation.

The head office was relocated from Stirling back to Ingliston, in a move approved by the board on account of the financial saving that will be made over the next 15 years. Before the move, the Ingliston office was refurbished with measures that qualified for a grant from the Energy Savings Trust the cost after the grant was £45,000 and to access the grant we were required to take an interest free loan which now appears in the accounts. An amount of £14,683 was attributed to office overheads this year with £28,522 being added to fixed assets under freehold property, as shown in note 4.

Within the sums for both debtors and creditors there is an amount of £175,000 of interest free loans secured with the World Curling Federation on behalf of ice rinks for building works and equipment at Edinburgh, Kinross, Ayr and Inverness. These loans have a neutral effect on our financial position as the amount due to WCF is equal to the amount due from the ice rinks to us.

The cash at bank is lower than the previous year due to the grant funding from sportscotland for the following year, which is normally received before the end of the financial year, which was received in May 2021. We hold an investment in government bonds which is now classified as a fixed asset for accounting purposes and has a current value of £37,586, previously this was listed on the balance sheet as a current asset.

9

PLAIN TEXT VERSION

We express our thanks to sportscotland and our membership, for providing the largest parts of our income. We also thank all those involved in taking care of the budgets throughout the year and in the preparation of the annual accounts for the company, with particular thanks to Susan Russell, Nicola Glencross, Suzy Wakefield and the members of the Audit Committee: Kevin Troup, Louise Burke, Janine Wilson, Jim Cullen and Stephen Farrow.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Scotland’s place in the world curling family is at the heart of the sport, as we were the nation that invented the game, wrote the first rules and were instrumental in forming the international federation.

The global nature of the pandemic led to the Annual General Assembly and Congress of the World Curling Federation being held online for the first time in September 2020. At the online meeting, the WCF members approved the new discipline of Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling with the inaugural championship yet to be held but hopeful it will be played in the coming season, ahead of the Paralympics in March 2022.

The members approved a new Governance Style, making the board more strategic and less operational. It also approved the formation of a Nominations Committee. Rule changes included the provision of greater coach interaction, so teams may communicate with their coaching personnel on the bench during the break after each end.

Susan Kesley was appointed to the WCF’s Competition and Rules Commission and she continues to work on the “Maximising The Value” working group that is looking into possible changes to the length and pace of games. Bruce Crawford has continued to work on the WCF’s Structure Review working group that have developed constitutional changes to the organisational structure that will be voted on by member associations at the next Congress and AGM in September 2021.

The commitment made by our representatives is appreciated, along with those on the WCF Board and Commissions during the last year these were: Kate Caithness - President of the WCF, Hew Chalmers – Director on the Board of WCF, Bob Kelly - RCCC Rep, Susan Kesley - RCCC Rep, Bruce Crawford - RCCC Rep, Rob Niven – RCCC Rep, Willie Nicoll – member of the WCF Governance Commission and David Murdoch – member of the WCF Athletes Commission.

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

The world seems a very different place compared to last season, with COVID 19 completely changing how we interact with our members and key stakeholders.

This time last year we had experienced a mere few weeks of lockdown, oblivious to the long months of restrictions that lay ahead. It still seemed entirely possible that the 2020/21 curling season might proceed as normal, albeit with extra measures in place.

Communication is key

In lots of ways this unusual season has presented an opportunity for learning in how we communicate with members. Too often in the past, we fell foul to an assumption that our

10

PLAIN TEXT VERSION members knew and understood our operations without taking the time and effort to engage, communicate and listen.

The last few months have allowed us the opportunity to assess our way of working and make some much-needed positive changes. For example, the Marketing Department has provided key support for the member’s webinars on the important issues of Selection and Structural Review, setting the tone of communications and keeping members informed and updated at all stages.

Virtual Engagement

We have also marketed the highly successful #CurlUp initiative, designed to keep members connected and involved with the sport during the pandemic. It has been brilliant to see attendance grow, to see feedback across our social channels brim with positivity and to see engagement in competitions and giveaways from invested members.

The recent #CurlUp Watch Parties for the World Championships were a fantastic way to sign off the season, and cemented this new working style, with member engagement front and centre. To this end, we produced a new Engagement and Consultation Strategy which was signed off by the board in February, which reflects the lessons of the last 12 months. You can read it here. (LINK).

‘Sweeping In Touch’ with Under17s

With Junior Members at a real risk of not returning to the sport we designed and distributed a special ‘Sweeping In Touch’ activity sheet for our Under17s, with exercises, puzzles and competitions for younger curlers.

Keeping it social

Our Social media platforms remain a crucial way in which we communicate and the tone, content and quality engagement in that sphere is something we take seriously. The numbers continue to grow steadily, and Marketing team members have recently undergone Content Strategy training to give our feeds and our direction a boost post COVID-19.

We have encouraged more interaction from members and followers on all our online platforms over the last 12 months. We have received some great feedback and enjoyed positive exchanges with followers, which help to build the Scottish Curling community online.

Our strongest performing Facebook post reached almost 30,000 people and amassed close to 2 thousand likes, reactions, or shares.

We continue to gain followers on Instagram almost every day. There has been a 2% growth in following, with new signups coming from Switzerland, Russia, the US and Canada. We have held polls, quizzes, and calls to action on Instagram Stories with good success among our younger members and followers. This platform is particularly popular with our 25-34 yr old followers and demonstrates an equal gender split.

Our engagement levels on Twitter are outstanding, with the highest recent post gaining an engagement rate of over 10% (anything over 2% is a good outcome). These well-performing figures demonstrate an appetite for quality content and interaction on our social channels, and we are always looking for new ways to improve.

11

PLAIN TEXT VERSION

In the coming year, we will be designing and implementing our first major paid campaign to promote #TryCurling.

Our thanks go to our whole online community who make our social spaces so vibrant, enthusiastic, and safe for all to enjoy.

Other projects include managing our International Women’s Day content, all key announcements regarding competitions, editing content for our (surprisingly full) Your Curler magazines, and sourcing testimonials and content to illustrate our Membership Benefits project.

#SaveOurRinks

Perhaps the most important piece of work this season, was our joint #SaveOurRinks campaign in partnership with the Scottish Ice Rink Association. We produced campaign videos featuring , and Rhona Howie; ensured coverage in local and national papers and on national radio. The successful result means many of Scotland’s rinks have been saved from ruin with a share of a 2million pound Government fund.

However strange and disrupted this season has been, there are some tangible positives to takeaway. We are now looking at a refresh of the TryCurling brand to entice more would be curlers in this crucial season, we plan to look again at our merchandise offering and try to better the goods and systems in place for members. We are dedicated to asking questions, listening, and acting on that feedback for the good of the organisation.

The recent success of our Men’s and Mixed Doubles teams has led to a flurry of media interest. On return from Calgary, Team Mouat who won silver at the World Men’s Curling Championship appeared on BBC Radio Scotland to talk about TryCurling. While World Mixed Doubles Champions Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat have appeared on The Nine (the flagship news program on BBC Scotland TV) and STV News. We continue to work alongside British Curling to promote the sport to as wide an audience as possible from grassroots to elite level.

PERFORMANCE

With the departure of David Ramsay at the end of the 2019/20 curling season, we saw the recruitment of Sophie Jackson, a former athlete who has represented Scotland at Junior and Senior level, as the new Academy Manager in September 2020.

Although 2020/21 has been a difficult season for athletes and coaches to cope with, the Academy has remained vibrant in its activities and given us all something to focus on during a challenging period. Yes, we would have preferred to be on ice training and competing, but we adapted the programme to an online one, where athletes benefitted from virtual sessions hosted by many experts in their field and elite athletes at the top of our sport.

New structure rolled out

This season saw the introduction of the new National and Regional Academy programmes. With National Academy teams and individuals accessing resources through the National Curling Academy in The Peak (Stirling). While Regional Academy athletes accessed coaching via their local hub rinks, which were setup in conjunction with the following ice rinks:

12

PLAIN TEXT VERSION

Ayr Ice Rink, Curl Aberdeen, Curl Edinburgh, Dumfries Ice Bowl, Forfar Indoor Sports, Greenacres Curling, Inverness Ice Centre, Moray Leisure Centre, and The Peak (Stirling).

A special thanks to all who were involved with planning and hosting Regional Academy sessions. We hope to continue to progress the Regional Academy structure at all current and future hubs next season. While athletes and coaches did not reap the full benefits of the new structure due to COVID-19 restrictions, strides were made in recruiting and developing regional coaches at hub rinks.

Minimal Regional Academy on ice sessions were able to take place this season, again due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the two sessions at Forfar Indoor Sports and three sessions at Dumfries Ice Bowl gave great hope of how the new Regional Academy structure will help nurture and develop prospective young curlers in the years to come. It was excellent to be able to support these players within their own rinks, making it much easier for them to access Academy coaching. The appreciation from athletes for this was clear and they are keen for more next season.

Special permission to return to on-ice training

In April, National Academy athletes were able to return to training at the National Curling Academy in Stirling following special permission from the Scottish Government. It goes without saying that all the athletes were thrilled to receive the opportunity to return for four weeks before the end of the season. A big thank you to British Curling and sportscotland, who were heavily involved in the application process for extending the elite sports protocol to the National Academy.

Virtual Learning

Zoom broadened the learning and engagement opportunities of the Academy greatly this season, as it has with most communities. Over the course of the season, we hosted a total of 15 virtual workshops for Academy athletes and coaches. Workshop topics ranged from how best to prepare for training, led by Lindsay Thomson and Ailis Robertson, to Social Media Management with Brown Ferguson and Paula Jarvie from the Scottish Institute of Sport. The continued support from the Scottish Institute of Sport via these sessions has been invaluable in maintaining athlete’s engagement with Curling and helping to continue their development whilst they have been unable to access on-ice training.

Continued support from our Sponsors

Our Academy sponsors from previous seasons, Foxglide and The Barrie Douglas Foundation continued to support us this season. We would like to thank them for supporting the programme in what has been a challenging financial year for everyone and look forward to continuing to work with both next season and in years to come.

Progression of Academy Athletes

Season 2020/21 saw the selection of 12 former Academy athletes onto the British Curling Performance Foundation Programme, the next step on the national performance pathway. The progression of these curlers is encouraging for the Academy as it gives current and new athletes relevant and realistic role models to look up to. It also highlights the success of the programme in developing young players in recent years.

13

PLAIN TEXT VERSION

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Although COVID-19 has posed many challenges this season, development of the workforce has continued to forge ahead with many new workshops being developed along with the return of favourites such as Sweeping and Stick Delivery.

We have continued to train up new coaches and have increased the number of tutors and assessors. Coaches continue to qualify despite the rink closures and the umpiring network is set to grow thanks to a new Game Umpire course designed by the WCF and World Academy of Sport. Also supporting the growth and development of the workforce are the coaching and umpiring committees that have continued to work hard during the season.

Courses completed 2020/21 – (all were delivered online)

Course Title # of courses Attendees *Level 1 3 31 Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport 10 69 Introduction to Sweeping 2 19 Key Principles of the Delivery Model 1 12 Stick Delivery 1 11 Tactics 2 24 **Team Dynamics 2 24 Rules Upskilling 1 9 Introduction to Mixed Doubles 1 8 Ready, Steady, Curl 1 19 **Sport Psychology – Series 1 4 59 **Sport Psychology – Series 2 4 67 TOTAL COURSES 32 352

Summary of Courses

* In season 2020/21 (April 2020 – April 2021) a total of 10 coaches qualified at Level 1 and 1 coach qualified at Level 2. Scottish Curling currently has 374 qualified and 122 coaches working towards their Level 1 and Level 2 qualification.

**A fleet of new workshops were introduced to the coaching calendar this year. Team Dynamics was designed to meet the growth in interest for team coaching, and 2 series of Sport Psychology workshops, (8 workshops in total), were aimed to help keep the coaching community connected during the long months of lockdown, and to develop intrapersonal skills.

Coaches sportscotland supports Scottish Curling by subsidising all completed Level 1 and Level 2 courses for Scottish based coaches by 40% and 60%, respectively. As a result, Scottish Curling secured a subsidy of £583 for period 2020/21.

The Coaching and Development Conference, as with all the courses, was delivered online and attended by 119 coaches. In addition to the usual updates, the coaches were treated to

14

PLAIN TEXT VERSION a CPD session with British Curling Team coach, Alan Hannah and guest speaker, Darrell Ell from the World Curling Federation, who talked about the development of curling.

A new discussion platform was launched in March on Brightspace called ‘Coaches Corner’. Over 70 have already registered to use the platform and are sharing ideas and connecting with other coaches all over the country.

Tutors

The tutor workforce continues to grow. Three new learners became professionally qualified tutors during the season increasing the number to 17. A standardisation refresher day was held last year for all the tutors. They were upskilled on the adaptation of all Scottish Curling courses and workshops, to online delivery.

Officials

Although no competitions took place this year there was still some activity. The Umpire Refresher Event went ahead online. Two umpires qualified as tutors and 6 umpires participated in a mentoring scheme for the purpose of looking after newly appointed umpires. To encourage more people to become officials, the Umpiring Committee held an Introduction to Officiating evening attended by 12 interested participants. The current database of officials stands at 69 umpires and 69 timers.

Volunteers

The Future Leaders programme continued to be supported throughout the season.

Workforce Developments 2021/22

There are many projects being developed for next season in every area of the workforce: • Coaching o Skill Awards Programme launch (online as a Progressive Web app) o Recap of Level 1 qualification (prior to season) o Getting Ready for Return to Sport workshop (prior to season) o Online Level 2 qualification o Continued development of Coaches Corner o Coaching Conference o More Sport Psychology workshops (online) • Tutors o Tutor standardisation training day o Assessor and Internal Verifier courses • Officials o Increase number of umpires and time clock operators o New online Game Umpire course o Continuation of the mentoring programme • Volunteers o Mentoring and developing one of our Future Leaders

15

PLAIN TEXT VERSION

SAFEGUARDING

We continue to maintain 100% compliance with the sportscotland Standards for Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport.

Key highlights in this area are as follows:

• New Digital PVG Forms -To support our clubs to continue to access the PVG scheme during COVID we converted to a digital form application. Working in partnership with other sports – Scottish Curling Welfare Officer lead 6 webinars on the updated PVG process and how to safely carry out remote ID checks.

• Online Courses - All Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport Courses (CWPS) were converted from in person to online virtual classroom and a full child protection training programme was delivered this season.

• A total of 10 CWPS courses were delivered in 2020/21 season, accessed by 128 participants (69 Scottish Curling members and 59 participants from other sports governing bodies.)

Case management and support In additional to case management at a national level, Scottish Curling continue to offer advice and support to clubs on the management and resolution of safeguarding concerns and cases via Lindsey Booth the Welfare & Child Protection Officer.

PARTNERSHIPS & SPONSORS

Our Partners sportscotland, UK Sport, World Curling, British Curling and the Scottish Curling Trust

Our Sponsors Asham, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, Goldline, Foxglide and Holiday Inn Express

RECOGNITION AWARDS

50 Year Medallists 2020/21 Gordon Craig (Abdie) Donald Burns (Hamilton and Thornyhill) Laurence Hervey (Bridge of Allan) Ewan Hay (Heart of the Highlands) Ken Horton (Carmunnock & Rutherglen) Roy McFarlane (Keir) James Dunlop (Crosshill) David McFarlane (Keir) Duncan McConnell (Darnaway) Mary Forster (Loch Connel) Robbie Scott (Dunkeld) Allie J Lyburn (Lynedoch Ladies) G F Milligan (Durisdeer) Alexis Sinclair (Lynedoch Ladies & Forret) Joyce Wilson (Falkland) John Stewart (Oxenfoord) Kenneth Irving (Gretna and Border) Mary Scobie (Stirling & District Ladies & Mary Irving (Gretna and Border) Stirling Ice Rink Senior Ladies)

150 Year Club Medallists 2020/21 | Admitted in 1871 Broughty Ferry | Earlston | Laurencekirk | St Ronans | Tulliallan

16

PLAIN TEXT VERSION

INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION & RESULTS

Players who represented Scotland and GB during the 2020/21 season

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Mixed Doubles - GOLD Bruce Mouat

Men - SILVER Bruce Mouat Hammy McMillan Ross Whyte

Women – 8th Eve Muirhead Jennifer Dodds

The Royal Caledonian Curling Club Trading as Scottish Curling Cairnie House, Ingliston Showground, Newbridge EH28 8NB Telephone: 0131 333 3003 Email: [email protected] www.scottishcurling.org

A company Limited by Guarantee without a share capital Registered in Scotland under company number SC232571.

17