On Friday afternoon, 32 local girls and young women who had little to no experience in curling came together during the Curling Canada Women in Curling Leadership event called Girls Rock at the Prince George Curling Club.
Jasmin Schlick, Kiersten Mikkelsen, Abigail Yoder and Alexis Seely, all second year UNBC students, came together to have a little fun and see what curling was all about.
Schlick never even touched a rock before she stepped on the ice for the first time Friday.
The rest of the girls all had a bit of knowledge about the sport of curling but nothing that came close to this level of instruction offered by Curling Canada.
And after the first half of instruction Friday afternoon?
“Now we’re talking about joining the league next year,” Mikkelsen said. “So if that’s any indication…”
“Yeah, after an hour and a half we’re already joining,” Schlick added with a grin.
And how did it go for newbie Schlick?
“Honestly? The first time I put the wrong leg forward,” the six-foot-three student laughed. “I didn’t even notice the difference. Once I figured it out it was good.”
“There are more moving parts to this game than I realized,” Yoder said. “It’s a lot more work than I thought it was. The communication between all the teammates is so important.”
Indicating to go light or heavy when it comes to sweeping ahead of the rock and helping each other by offering advice on where to aim their rock is all critical to a successful game of curling, the girls agreed.
“And the camaraderie between the girls is on a different level than I expected,” Seely said. “It’s so fun and engaging.”
As part of the Women in Curling events presented by Curling Canada during the World Women’s Curling Championship held here in Prince George gathered together were coaches from across the country who are Scotties Tournament of Hearts champions, youth coaches who are provincial champions and Olympic champions like Jill Officer who took gold in 2014, Cori Morris, who took silver in 2010 and Joan McCusker who took gold in 1998.
Karen Watson is from Nanaimo, a Women in Curling coach for Curl BC, and an organizer of the Girls Rock event said Curling Canada is trying to get more girls and women in the very Canadian sport of curling.
“This was such an awesome event,” Watson said. “The girls are all very energetic and not afraid to try out a new skill and a new sport. I’m really impressed with how they’ve been engaged and have followed through and are not afraid to just come out and try something new.”
