Mel and I have found this group online called YACA which stands for the Australian Canadians Association. It used to have a Young on the front, but since its formation some of the members have become more senior, but the acronym has stayed the same.
Anyway, it is an organisation set up for expats over here to keep in touch and get together for certain events throughout the year. They have an AFL grand final party, celebrate Australia Day, Anzac Day and many other traditional Australian things. This year they had a Christmas party where we all met for curling in the afternoon and then went to a local pub to share a meal that night.
Lawry came with us as we headed to the Toronto Cricket, Curling and Skating Club ready to attack the ice with our brushes and push those stones down the lanes. The club itself is amazing. It is as historical as the St Andrews golf clubhouse. The type of establishment where you probably have to have a couple of letters after your name and wear a jacket to the bar. They have two cricket fields as well as squash courts, tennis courts, skating rink, bowls and croquet greens and the formidable ice pad that is the curling rink.
There was about 50 people that attended and we were split up into 2 teams of 4 per lane. Mel, Lawry and I were teamed against a young couple and their friends. The married gentleman was a Canadian himself and has played the sport before. He was very competitive and loved shouting instructions to his teammates (who had no idea) about where they should aim the stone/rock, which by the way weighs about 20 kg! It was hard enough for the newbies to get used to standing, walking and sliding on the ice let alone push a 20 kg rock down the ice on one knee. Not only was he very good at this but he also did it with a three-month-old baby strapped to his chest. Not too sure whether Mel the child welfare worker was too comfortable with that pairing, but he stayed on his feet.
I suppose I was lucky I was sitting, because everyone fell over at some stage. Mel, to her credit, was a oncer and she quickly got up hoping I didn't see, but I did. Once she got the hang of the push off the block with one foot, slide on the opposite knee and then release the rock, she was very good. She won most of our teams points. I don't know how she did it though, considering her tall centre of gravity, but she deserved our teams MVP.
None of us were particlularly keen on the whole madly scrubbing the ice with the broom thing in order to make the rock glide faster or slower, too much like house work, so we just concentrated on placing the rock in the right spot in the first place. Much easier & less effort.
My own form. Well I was just stoked to be able to get out onto the ice and watch. But when the organiser came over with a roll of packing tape and a pushing stick I knew I was being thrown into the game. So with an entire roll of tape wrapped around my arm and rock pusher at the ready, I gave it a curl. Now, there is a lot of skill involved in getting the right amount of momentum and spin to push the stone down the other end, and I didn't give my electric chair enough grunt as I released and the stone ended up right in the middle of the lane but only about halfway down. I justified my weak performance by saying it was a strategic move to get in the way of everyone else's, a blocker. That was my excuse anyway. It was a lot of fun and as the games progressed I became better and better. I also recently found out that it is now a sport in the Paralympics and I reckon when I get home to Australia I might ask the Paralympic committee if I can be Australia's representative at the next Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, 2014 ..... we'll see.
Although Curling is a placid looking sport, just like Lawn Bowls, it can actually be quite dangerous as we found out. Two Aussies ended up taken away in a ambulance due to falls they had. We certainly did not see it but felt it from the other side of the rink.
Everyone had to get sticky tape on the sole of one foot for grip. Roxy sitting patiently wanting to play.
Little does she realise she would be like Bambi on the ice, she did try a couple of times and slipped every time.
Little does she realise she would be like Bambi on the ice, she did try a couple of times and slipped every time.
Tim lining up his stone and then releasing trying to pull up before the blue line ... not so easy on ice!
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Tim and Lawry scheming there verbal taunting tactics
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| Tim trying to put off Michael with the curling version cries of | "Gutter Ball" and "Air Ball'' |
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Michael's technique was very smooth though |
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