World Curling Event Springboard For Future

2009 World Seniors Curling Championship Media Release May 4 2009

World Curling Event Springboard For Future Development Of The Sport In NZ

When the World Curling Federation took a gamble on Dunedin hosting the World Seniors Curling championships it not only paid off as a highly successful southern hemisphere debut but it has provided the impetus for the NZ Curling Association to set its sights higher for growing the strength of the sport in New Zealand.

NZ Curling Association President, Darren Carson says that staging the championship here has demonstrated to the public that curling is not just a serious sport but that it is a world sport and one in which Kiwis can be successful in at an international level. He says, “We want to build on this awareness and position curling as a compelling sport to compete in.”

Last week a delegation of NZ curling officials together with the WCF President, met with Kereyn Smith, CEO of the NZ Sports Academy S Island and with Associate Professor Dave Gerrard at the University of Otago, to discuss how curling could take advantage of the resources that both organisations have to offer. Darren Carson said that the discussions were invaluable in terms of identifying the potential support that curling could receive if the sport grew in membership. He says, “New Zealand has athletes that are as good as any in the world but in curling what we lack is investment in the science of the sport and particularly in the psychological approach to the game. We know to achieve this we need to grow the support for the game in New Zealand and want to see more curling facilities throughout the country.”

World Curling Federation President, Les Harrison says that New Zealand needs to grow and develop the sport at a grass roots level as well as developing elite athlete functions like good coaching and high performance training. He says that the WCF’s goal is to grow the sport around the world. “We hope this world championship will ultimately be a catalyst in NZ not just to attract more seniors but to showcase the sport to all ages.”

Les Harrison says that NZ curling is facing the chicken and egg conundrum, “You need more competitors but you can’t grow without facilities and you can’t fund the facilities without a bigger membership.” He has been impressed with the facilities in Dunedin and the support that the Dunedin City Council has given to develop them. He said, “ Countries with limited resources need to be innovative and what’s been achieved in Dunedin is a fantastic example of that. These are world class facilities.”

The next big shot in the arm for curling will be the NZ Winter Games in August which will bring international teams once again to NZ and the sport will benefit from national exposure through SKY TV coverage.

Merv Jaimeson, a national curling selector says the opportunities for NZ curling teams to compete internationally are huge. “ In 2012 we hope to be able to enter a team into the World Youth (under 18yrs) tournament and we want to be able to enter a team in the next Winter Olympics.”

The next World Seniors Championship will be held in Russia in Chelyablinsk about two hours East of Moscow. Les Harrison says Russia probably has no more curlers than New Zealand. For the World Curling Federation the 2010 Seniors will be an opportunity to build a cast of supporters in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics to be held in Russia in Sochi.

ENDS

© Scoop Media