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Issue 53 | JANUARY 2018 | WWW.SCOTTISHCURLING.ORG Yo u r keepingCurler you connected with Scottish Curling In this month’s issue... COMPETITIONS FEATURES Canada Takes lead in Scotland’s WJCC Strathcona Cup representatives now decided CLUBS & RINKS Lanarkshire Ice Rink Celebrates its 50th Anniversary www.scottishcurling.org I ssue 53 | January 2018 | www.scottishcurling.org | FEATURES FEATURESFEATURES A WORD FROM OUR CEO Our latest edition of Your Curler in 2018 is at the start of the peak period when national and international curling championships take the limelight. The British Olympic Curlers left on 1 Feb for their training camp in Japan prior to the start of the Games on 8 February. TeamGB play their first curling games on 14 February playing at (UK times) midnight, 5am and 11am, full schedule is on our website in the competitions calendar. The Scottish Government has declared 2018 the Year of Young People, in the year that we are hosting the World Junior Curling Championships 3rd- 10th March 2018. Following the Johnston Carmichael Scottish Curling Junior Championships in Curl Aberdeen in January we are now looking forward to getting behind Team Morrison and Team Whyte when they don their Scotland kit next month. Look out for other ways that young people will be involved in playing and planning for the future of Scottish Curling. We have also said farewell to the Canadian tourists who won the Strathcona Cup after 53 games of curling, the result was resoundingly in the visitors favour as they finished 325 shots ahead of the Scottish club curlers who they played and with whom they enjoyed a memorable time on and off the ice. Scotland will be back across the Atlantic in five years time for the next encounter in the world’s oldest international curling contest. BRUCE CRAWFORD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER TEAM WHYTE AND TEAM MORRISON GET SET FOR THE WORLD JUNIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS The teams getting ready to represent Scotland at the World Junior Curling Championships, 2018, have been selected. Team Morisson, skipped by 21-year-old Rebecca Morrison from Aberdeen, and Team Whyte, headed up by 19-year-old Ross Whyte will take on the best young curlers from across the globe, when the Championships are hosted in the Granite City in 5 weeks’ time. The 2018 Johnston Carmichael Scottish Curling Junior Championships took place from the 23rd – 28th of March, at Curl Aberdeen with the two young teams emerging from the pack as our new Scottish Junior Champions. You can read a full match report here. Rebecca, whose team beat Team Bryce to make it this far, says: We are so excited for March; this is our first time representing Scotland. We’ll be working“ so hard over the next five weeks, so we can do our best, we’ll really be focusing on individual training and team training. It would mean so much to us to have a “good home support. Home support makes you play better for sure. It’s not often you get to see a World Championship in your home town, or home country for that matter, so we’d love for there to be a big crowd “ Team Whyte beat Team Kinnear to become the men’s Junior Champions. Skip Ross Whyte tells us how’s the team are feeling going into the Worlds: We’d get pretty pumped if we had a decent home support. We saw what it was like out in South Korea, and it makes such “a difference. Curling is really easy to understand – even if you’re not a curler you’ll soon pick it up, so please come along. Tickets for the World Juniors are on sale now at EventBrite. TO SEE TEAM WHYTE AND TEAM MORRISON IN ACTION AT THE WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP IN ABERDEEN BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW, CLICK HERE>> I ssue 53 | January 2018 | www.scottishcurling.org | FEATURES ADOPTION OF NEW SCOTTISH CURLING TRADING NAME We are delighted to announce that the Board of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club has approved adopting the trading name, Scottish Curling. The decision to rebrand follows research with our stakeholders, curlers and the wider public. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive; that a move to Scottish Curling is the most effective way to communicate who we are, and what we do as a national governing body. 3 Chairman of Scottish Curling, Rob Niven says; Using Scottish Curling as a trading name, is a real progression. It’s instantly recognisable, and best communicates “ “who we are as a modern governing body. We want to create something that is really commercially attractive, as well as appealing to curlers of all abilities, ages and genders. This will help us to take curling in Scotland to a new level. This does not mean the end of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, which will remain the registered name of the company. We will continue to honour our long and illustrious heritage, and are working on ways to do so. We will liaise closely with members and committees over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition to Scottish Curling. Scottish Curling has 12,000 members in over 600 clubs, who are the heart of the community that we represent. Scotland’s inspirational curlers continue to perform fantastically on the world stage and fifteen will shortly be heading to PyeongChang for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We will be hosting world class international events in Scotland, with the next being the 2018 World Junior Curling Championships, 3-10 March 2018. With so much positivity and excitement surrounding our wonderful sport, we believe now is the right time to capitalise; and make the move to a fresh, modernised identity. We appreciate the continued support of our members, staff and sponsors, and aim to be as open and transparent during this process as possible. We have answered the frequently asked questions that our members have and the full list can be found on our new website’s news page. CANADA RETAIN INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE TROPHY FOR DISABILITY CURLING Following thirteen ice games over six days, the Canadians leave our shores victorious, after winning the International Challenge, Disabled Curling event 2018. Based in Dunfermline, Fife, the two teams of curlers travelled to the four ice venues chosen to host the competition. They were: Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy, The Peak in Stirling, Murrayfield Ice Rink in Edinburgh and Kinross Ice Rink in Perthshire. During the event, Scottish Disability Golf & Curling helped to raise the profile of the sport by arranging several other games between other disabled curling groups and organisations, including Scottish Wheelchair curlers and VICKS (Vision Impaired Curlers Kinross). Jim Thomson, Scotland’s Skip said, We must thank all our UK based sponsors for their kind generosity and support during the International match. Without this, we could not have “organised the competition and provided“ the base hotel, ice time and transport to and from the rinks. Of course, we also managed to squeeze in some socialising while the Canadian’s were here, a major part of any international competition. Team Scotland 2018 were Gerry Clifford, Bob Drysdale, Jim Gales, Robert Inness, Adam Storrie & Jim Thomson (Skip). Team Canada were Donna Hawkins (Skip), Gary Saxon, Darlene Wilson Woods, Bill Watson & Coaches Bill & Mary Malcolmson. In 2019, the event will be expanded to incorporate at least one other international team and, based once again in Scotland, it is hoped that more disabled curling teams and players will become involved. The event will come under the banner of our Phoenix Cup programme of events, a tried and tested format for international competitions. ARTICLE: JIM GALES, SCOTTISH DISABILITY GOLF AND CURLING PHOTOS: JILL WEISH AND HELEN KALLOW I ssue 53 | January 2018 | www.scottishcurling.org | FEATURES LINDA OWEN RETURNS TRIUMPHANT FROM TRANSPLANT GAMES In December, we spoke to Scots curler Linda Owen, who was heading to the Transplant Games in Switzerland. The 36-year-old is now back on home soil; after a fantastic achievement, a gold medal, competing as a member of Team Great Britain. Linda, who curls at Waterbeck CC, had a life-saving heart transplant 3 years ago, after suffering a rare complication while pregnant with twins. Team GB who have all had either heart, lungs, kidney, pancreas, bone marrow or liver transplants, competed in a variety of alpine sports and curling. Out of the 25 teams competing from around the world, Team GB was the largest with 14 competitors. The Winter Transplant Games provides a wonderful opportunity for transplant athletes to enjoy their new lease of life and demonstrate the benefits of organ donation. Team GB, managed by Transplant Sport (TSUK), the charity “ responsible for the British Transplant Games, range in age from 14 year old Harry, a liver transplant recipient, to Sue, a heart transplant recipient, who is 65 years young. Linda says It was an amazing experience to meet and compete against people who have had transplants from all over the world. “ Lynne Holt, Team Manager at Transplant Sport says: Many of our transplant athletes have experienced near death situations and long illness, and it is very gratifying to see them able to enjoy a full life, thanks to “organ donation. Without this ‘gift of life’, many of them would not now be alive. Every member of Team GB has already had to ‘climb a mountain’ to get through the transplant, and with their courage and“ determination, have enjoyed the thrills of being in the mountains in Switzerland. Hopefully this international event will encourage others to sign on to the Organ Donor Register, but most importantly, discuss their final wishes now with their families.