How can my Children Progress to the Olympics for Curling?
10 May 2024
Curling is a popular sport among children, for a variety of reasons. It’s relatively easy to play, requires just enough strategy to make it engaging, can be enjoyed by all regardless of age, experience and physicality, and is safe. It’s also gaining in popularity, with curling and its other forms (particularly New Age Kurling) becoming regular fixtures in schools and youth clubs’ programmes.
If your child really enjoys curling, and wants to pursue it seriously, then they’ve perhaps set their sights on joining the national team. It’s one of the most popular winter sports - a mainstay of the Olympics with one of the biggest viewerships of any sport. So how can children get to where they’re throwing rocks across the ice for their country?
Joining a club
Depending on where you are in the country, there are many curling clubs your child can join. The good news is that all clubs are really welcoming, and always take on children of any age. Some clubs require children to complete a short course before joining, or to complete one-to-one training sessions, whereas others are happy to take children as complete novices. The bad news is that there is a huge disparity in where the clubs are located. Scotland, for example, has hundreds of curling clubs. Wales and Northern Ireland, on the other hand, have zero. Sadly, whether your child can easily take up curling will depend on where you live. All is not lost, though. There are many people in the under-represented countries looking to establish curling clubs, so if your child is really passionate, get in touch with the local association to see what you can do to help.
Forming a team and entering competitions
Rather than taking on individual players, national curling associations open applications to teams. So it will be a good idea for children to begin thinking about which other players they play well with and with whom they make a good team. Once children feel as though they have found a good team, it’s vital that they start to experience competitions. Competitions can be found by visiting the British Curling website or talking to the people running your local club. Entering competitions will give children good experience, but is also a prerequisite for selection into the Olympics.
Olympics selection process
There is room for a few teams to go to the Olympics to represent their country. There isn’t just one. Teams will be selected based on their performance in a variety of competitions. The selection panel for the Olympics will consider the teams’ results in competitions over the two or three years running up to the Olympics. They’ll also consider the teams’ recent track records against opponents and will assess a team against British Curling’s “What It Takes To Win Model”.
What It Takes To Win Model (WITTW)
This is the keystone that Olympics selection committees will measure teams against when making a decision whether they can go to the Olympics. Essentially, it’s an assessment check-list of a variety of factors that are deemed to make a good curling team. It can be a good idea for children to be aware of this and familiarise themselves with the model. If they understand what the professional bodies consider makes up a successful Olympic team, then they can strive to make sure they are well-developed in these areas.