CurlManitoba welcomes new girls on the ice

CurlManitoba held an annual event this weekend aimed at encouraging more girls to try curling.

The Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club welcomed new girls on the ice Sunday.

CurlManitoba hosted Girls Rock, an event aiming to introduce girls who have never curled before to the sport. Geared toward girls ages nine to 16, participants were able to learn about curling with local female coaches, instructors, past champions and leaders.

Erika Radosevic, CurlManitoba’s development and event coordinator, said a big factor is being in a comfortable environment.

“When we run our Girls Rock program, I only do it with myself and only with female instructors so that the girls are in a safe and fun environment to introduce them to something that’s brand new,” Radosevic said.

Getting participation and spreading the word are some of the challenges, Radosevic said.

“A lot of times that’s a big factor. I bring all the equipment, I arrange the ice and everything,” she said. “We do it as a tri-curling event, meaning the registration fee is quite low just to get the participation.”

Sunday’s event was a one-day session, but Radosevic said there are lots of clubs in Winnipeg that run Learn to Curl programs.

“They can do it as a drop-in program, some do it as an eight-week, ten-week program. (Girls) can start off at Learn to Curl programs where they learn the game a little bit more, a little more on-ice time and then hopefully that sparks them to get into some junior program curling and then into bonspiel.”

Radosevic said while the organization doesn’t know the translation rate from one-day participation to regular curlers, the junior program’s numbers show a “good sign.”

“Our junior numbers — we do see that those participation numbers in junior programming are staying the same, if not increasing, which is a good sign that hopefully this program is helping with that.”