Heather home to curling hub

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This article was published 04/12/2024 (365 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two years ago, when David Murdoch began to envision what the future of high-performance training for Canadian curlers could look like, Winnipeg naturally became the place to start.

“Geographically, (Winnipeg is) a great place to be. But that’s not the most important factor,” said Murdoch, who was appointed director of high performance with Curling Canada in 2022.

“You look at athletes that are currently on our national team program here, we’ve got a lot of athletes in our NextGen program, so in terms of bang for your buck, there’s a lot here. I think there always will be. It’s a key curling strategical base here, and there’s been a lot of success in the city, in this province, and we want to continue.”

On Wednesday, CurlManitoba and Curling Canada unveiled its new regional performance hub and development centre at the Heather Curling Club in St. Boniface. With two of the club’s eight sheets dedicated to the initiative, it will serve as the primary training ground for National Team Program (NTP) athletes and NextGen curlers across the province.

“It’s such a big step because what we are seeing around the world is certainly a specialization into daily training environments. Our competitors around the world have facilities that they can train at every day, have the right conditions, the technology, the right coaching. In Canada, we don’t really have that,” said Murdoch.

The two rinks will resemble the type of quality that is prepared for professional tournaments, while players will have access to the top training equipment, including video analysis, speed traps, smart brooms that provide performance data and championship-calibre rocks.

Best of all, the ice is readily available just about whenever they need it.

“I think it’s actually a bigger difference maybe than people realize sometimes because the curlers on TV make it look easy,” said former world champion Jill Officer, now serving as the director of high performance with CurlManitoba.

“When you come and play in a curling rink that is meeting the needs of the members who play on a regular basis, it’s very different from what we experience at championships.”

The hub has been in use since early October, but its unveiling was delayed as more training equipment arrived. So far, players from high-performance teams such as Kerri Einarson, Matt Dunstone, Kaitlyn Lawes, Mike McEwen and Chelsea Carey have taken advantage of the new facility.

Dennis Thiessen of the National Wheelchair Curling Program and NextGen teams such as Mackenzie Arbuckle/Aaron Macdonell and Kate Cameron have also used it.

“I’d say we’re pleasantly surprised with the athletes and how many are venturing over,” said Craig Baker, executive director for CurlManitoba. “Some are definitely used to using their home clubs, but as we were able to use high-quality ice and use some championship rocks and equipment, they’re liking the environment, they’re liking the access… so it’s being used probably more than we thought it would be used.”

Team Jordon McDonald has used the new ice as much as anyone, with the NextGen team training about three times per week. The team has practised at the Assiniboine Curling Club in the past, and although there were no major issues at that facility, they believe their new training ground is right on the button for what they need.

“It’s great, honestly,” said Dallas Burgess, who plays third for McDonald. “The feel of this ice is very similar to arena-style ice. So when we go play big events, we already have a bit of a feel of how the ice is. And the availability of it is just so great. We pretty much have free rein on when we want to book ice and come out and train whenever we need to.”

Currently, two national training centres exist at the Glencoe Club in Calgary and Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, but Winnipeg is the first regional centre under the Curling Canada umbrella.

Murdoch hopes this is just the pilot program in a network of regional hubs around the country. Reaching players in the youth development program will also be critical to ensure a wealthy pipeline of talent for years to come.

“We’ve got a lot of amazing curling clubs across the country,” Murdoch said. “How do we get the conditions that we need — that we see our athletes going toward, that are on TV — that’s hard to have in a curling club because it needs to suit more of the club curler than the pro curler. Those conditions, and getting the right coaches and equipment are what our athletes need to be at their best.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam