Every February, the curling community celebrates "Curling Day In Canada." One of the events is a story contest put on by Curling Canada where curlers from across the country submit their stories in the hope of winning a prize. In January 2021, Cheryl Rajala of Sudbury, ON, wrote about an incredible moment at the U18 Northern Ontario Provincial Championships in March of 2020.
In this episode, you'll hear Cheryl read her story ("How To Make A Curling Mom Cry") and talk about what led up to that moment. We'll also talk about the challenges of being a mom of two competitive curlers, and how to deal with victories and defeats as a curling parent. NOTE: This interview was recorded in late February 2022.
Some of the topics we discuss:
* How Cheryl's husband got her to curl (5:30)
* How a mining strike led to her children curling (6:27)
* What sparked the kids' love of the sport? (7:50)
* Youth Challenges (10:38)
* Challenges of having two competitive curling kids (12:26)
* Money: Fundraising and sponsorships (14:58)
* Expectations going into the U18 Northern Ontario Championships (17:37)
* The lead-up to the "moment" (19:15)
* Did the "moment" surprise Cheryl? (21:55)
* Current competitive status of Brendan & Lauren (22:45)
* Advice for curling parents (23:56)
* Dealing with defeat - what can parents do? (25:07)
* Do they ever take a break? (28:27)
Links to the resources mentioned in this episode:
Curling Day In Canada: "How To Make A Curling Mom Cry" article (Jan 22/21)
https://www.curlingdayincanada.ca/how-to-make-a-curling-mom-cry/
Cheryl's Twitter: @CherylRajala
Follow our podcast on Twitter: @kidscurling
Glenn Gabriel is an NCCP-certified curling coach who lives in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. He has been the coordinator of the Little Rocks (U12) program at East York Curling Club in Toronto since 2011. If you have a question or feedback on the podcast, send us an e-mail at coachingkidscurling@gmail.com
The intro and outro music is "Golden Sunrise (Instrumental Version)"
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/The_Wake_1790/JoshWoodward-TheWake-NoVox-10-GoldenSunrise
By Josh Woodward
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward
Licensed under CC BY 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/