For more than 30 years, kids representing elementary schools from across Ontario have played in the annual elementary school curling championship. The 33rd edition of this event was originally scheduled to run in March of 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. In today's episode, I speak with the three co-chairs of the 2022 event - Kathy Waechter, Jen Elston & Mike Cottrill - of the Wingham Golf & Curling Club. We talk about the plans for the event, what COVID protocols they’ve implemented, and why this event is meaningful for all of them.
Some of the topics we discuss:
* Details of the event (2:14)
* Where is Wingham, ON? What is it famous for? (6:43)
* A description of the Wingham Golf & Curling Club (8:30)
* The experience of bringing a school team to a previous championship (9:58)
* COVID protocols (12:16)
* Making this event special, like a "first experience at a Brier!" (15:58)
* Sponsors (18:54)
* What is the goal of this event? (21:13)
* Youth curling program at WG&CC (22:53)
* What would a hypothetical school team from Pickering, ON, get from this event? (25:23)
* All three guests are passionate about youth curling (26:13)
Links to the resources mentioned in this episode:
Wingham (ON) Golf & Curling Club Web site:
https://www.winghamgcc.com/
WG&CC E-mail:
manager@winghamgcc.com
WG&CC Phone:
(519) 357-2179
Event E-mail:
elementarycurling2020@gmail.com
New Holland (McGavin/Robert's Farm Equipment)
https://www.robertsfarm.com/
Joe Kerr Limited (Wingham, ON)
https://joekerrlimited.ca/
Alice Munro Wikipedia Entry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Munro
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/