Curling stones at Sidney Street School
Posted on February 16, 2017 by Maple Creek
Grade 1 students and Rocks and Rings' Brett Lang gather around Trinity Mix as she tosses a curling rock on wheels towards the paper ring in the Sidney Street School gym Feb. 10. The Rocks and Rings Program helps schools around the country in an effort to teach some skills and tips for curlers. PHOTO SEAN MCINTOSHSean McIntosh
Twitter: @SeanMCNews
smcintosh@maplecreeknews.com
Students at Sidney Street School had a chance to learn some curling skills recently.
Rocks and Rings Curling Program’s Brett Lang visited the school to help students from Grades 1 to 6 learn some tips and tricks to becoming better curlers.
Holly Jamieson, first grade teacher and the coach of multiple curling teams with both Sidney Street and Maple Creek Composite Schools, contacted Rocks and Rings to bring the all-day curling skills event to Maple Creek on Feb. 10.
“The main reason I did this is our curling club is suffering for members,” she said. “I wanted to start promoting curling at an earlier age.”
Cypress Motors, Murray Cheverlot Buick GMC and the Town of Maple Creek helped with the funding to bring in Rocks and Rings.
Unfortunately, Jamieson was unable to be there for the day because she was in Ponteix with the senior girls’ curling team.
“I’m disappointed I couldn’t be there, but it’s the schedule we had to work around,” she said.
She says the school’s staff and others deserve a big thanks for helping out with the program while she was out of town. She also credits The Shop for providing dinner.
Nancy Frey, with the Maple Creek Curling Club, was one of those who helped out in Jamieson’s absence. Seeing young people enjoying curling definitely put a smile on her face, Frey said.
“It’s lovely,” she said. “It’s exciting to see the interest that they’ve shown and the knowledge of the game they have from home.”
Each age group had a different set of curling activities through the day. The younger grades went through some very basic drills, while the older students had more competitively driven games.
Having Lang, who has been with Rocks and for many years, help teach the children was great, Frey added.
“It’s wonderful to have someone with some more knowledge bring it to the school and to prepare them for the curling rink,” she said.
It’s all about getting youth in Canada more interested in playing the Olympic sport, Lang said.
“We’re trying to get the younger generation into curling because there’s not too many young people who curl,” he said.
Lang says he’s been curling since he was five years old. His love for the game is something he wants to pass on.
“I’m the only [Rocks and Rings] instructor in Saskatchewan so I travel all over teaching elementary kids how to curl and hopefully they enjoy it,” said Lang.
Rather than heading to the rink a few blocks from the school, Lang utilized curling rocks on wheels and a flat paper ring for students to use.
“It’s a little easier on the floor than the ice teaching them, especially the young ones,” Lang said.
For more details on the Rocks and Rings Curling Program you can visit its website at http://www.rocksandrings.com.
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