麻豆社区

A new curling program aimed at seeing a Yukon team return to national competition will launch in Whitehorse next month.

The Yukon Curling Association (YCA) has unveiled its Adult Competitive Development Curling Program for current competitive curlers, or those looking to make the jump to their first championship event.

The program includes three weekend clinics put on by Bill Tschirhart, a professional curling coach in B.C.

Tschirhart has worked to develop elite curlers for more than three decades, and has also written a book entitled A Pane In The Glass: A Coach's Companion.

The program has an entry fee of $100 and will run Oct. 12 to 14, Nov. 2 to 3, and Dec. 7 to 8 at the Whitehorse Curling Club. All three clinics are included in the cost.

YCA board member Laura Eby said the initiative is intended to strengthen curling development locally.

"The program is a key instrument in our overall approach to further developing the sport of curling in the Yukon,鈥� she said. "If we have at least two women's teams and two men's teams from the Yukon playing down for the territorial seat at the Scotties and/or the Brier, the program will be deemed a success.鈥�

Eby said the program will establish a framework for competitive curlers to work from.

YCA executive director Linden Mattie said the program has been launched to help solve a recent problem that saw no Yukon teams registered for the territory's men's and women's championship events last year.

"We ended up not hosting them, and obviously didn't send any teams off to represent us at the Yukon/N.W.T. playdowns, or ultimately the national events,鈥� Mattie said in an email to the Star.

"The program is aimed at two groups of adult curlers. The first group is those who are already competitive players or teams that are looking to develop their skills and be more competitive in the events they participate in.

"The second group are curlers who have not yet made the jump to competitive play. They could be new curlers, or people who have curled for a while but haven't moved past recreational or casual play, but would like to have some help moving up to that next level.鈥�

Full teams, or individuals or partial teams interested in pairing up with others to form a competitive team, are welcome to register.

Entrants are expected to play in a competitive league this season and practise two times a week leading up to the championship event they choose to participate in.

Each team is expected to participate in at least one competitive event outside its home club.

Each team is also expected to have a coach, or have one or more players participate in the Competition Coach certification program offered Oct. 18 to 20 by the YCA.

Participants that complete the program and enter one of the Yukon men's, women's or mixed championship are eligible to have their entry fee reimbursed.

Teams that complete the program and participate in one of these events is also eligible for $1,000 in reimbursement for eligible team expenses, such as travel or tournament entry fees.

The program was made possible thanks in part to funding from the Yukon Government's Community Development Fund.

It has been five years since the Yukon has had a presence at the Canadian curling championships.

In 2008, Chad Cowan's rink finished 2-9 at the Tim Hortons Brier in Winnipeg.

On the women's circuit, the last Yukon team to represent the territory at the Scott Tournament of Hearts was Sandra Hatton in 2000. Her team finished 0-11 in Prince George, B.C.

This year, Sarah Koltun's dominant junior rink is looking to make a run at both the junior nationals and the Scotties national women's championship.

Only one team is sent to the men's and women's national championship from the Yukon and N.W.T., while Nunavut does not participate.

Currently, the territories' men's and women's playdowns alternate each year between Whitehorse and Yellowknife.