If you have a child that is active in other sports besides curling, you might know of sports where they test their skill levels and earn badges or pins or certificates. For years in Ontario, we had a program called the "Skill Awards" where kids, having learned certain curling skills, would earn a badge that they could sew on their jacket or sweater.
In today's episode, I speak with Beth Iskiw from Edmonton, Alberta. Beth has been involved with the development of a new national skills award program for Curling Canada called “RockStars.” We explain what the program is about, what feedback they’ve received from the pilot program, and how youth program organizers can get more information about it.
Some of the topics we discuss:
* What is the RockStars Awards Program? (1:58)
* Lesson plans come included in the RockStars binder (4:52)
* Assessment anxiety for the kids (7:40)
* Report cards/Achievement reports (9:11)
* Sample lesson plan (12:07)
* A fun drill for kids that Beth learned (15:13)
* How to get a copy of the RockStars Program (17:03)
* The lessons have visual diagrams (21:27) and links to Curling Canada videos (22:16)
* What was the transition from competitive curler to youth coach? (23:51)
* Beth's advice to youth curling coaches (25:55)
Links to the resources mentioned in this episode:
Ellerslie Curling Club (Edmonton, Alta.) Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/ellersliecurling/
RockStars e-mail: RockStars@curling.ca
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/