Muirhead and Murdochfly the flag for ScotlandEve Muirhead and David Murdoch
won the right to represent Scotlandat the Le Gruyere European CurlingChampionships by winning the Europ-ean Playoffs that were held at DewarsCentre, Perth, from 27-30 October.
Eve Muirhead and her team of AnnaSloan, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamiltonwent through the double round-robinstages of the playoff with a 6-0 record,while Hannah Fleming, Sarah Reid andJackie Lockhart all finished on 2-4records. Fleming sat out the first tie-breaker while Lockhart and Reid playedoff in a game which went to an extra endbefore Team Reid progressed to the nexttie-breaker.
The Reid side went from strength tostrength in the second tie-breaker, with aconvincing 8-3 win which put them intothe best-of-three final against theMuirhead side. Team Reid, skipped byKerry Barr (in the absence of Sarah Reid),with Lorna Vevers, Rachael Simms andBarbara McPake, could not stop thedominance of the Muirhead side in thefinal games. They lost out in the firstgame 9-5, and latterly 8-5 in the secondgame which secured Muirhead’s placeon the flight to Moscow at the end ofNovember.
The men’s competition was a similarstory, with Tom Brewster and his teamof Greg Drummond, Scott Andrews andMichael Goodfellow finishing the doubleround-robin on 6-0. Dave Murdoch,Sandy Reid and David Edwards allfinished on 2-4, with the Murdoch sidesitting out the first tie-breaker game.
Reid and Edwards played off, theEdwards team progressing to the secondtie-breaker with a 6-5 win. Murdochfought off David Edwards in Saturdaynight’s tie-breaker to run out 5-3 winnersand book his place in Sunday’s best-of-three showdown.
In the first game in the final round ofthe competition, the momentum swungback and forth, with the scores tied goinginto the final end. Murdoch needed aprecise tap back to remove a Brewstercounter from the button, but failed topush the stone far enough, giving up asteal and the first game to the Brewsterside. Murdoch and his team of GlenMuirhead, Ross Paterson and RichardWoods came back strongly in the secondgame to win 7-4, taking the competitionto the third and final game to determineScotland’s representative.
The game was tightly contestedthroughout, with Murdoch holding laststone advantage in the final end andusing it to score the necessary shot tobook his place at the European CurlingChampionships from 2-10 December.
Tullis RussellPapermakers will
support Team Scotlandin their quest to claim
the European titleswhen they compete in
Moscow.
No 2: November 201 1
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Rank Broken Rules Rule No
1 Only the skip and vice-skipshould be behind the head whenthe opposition are playing.
R4 (a)(i)
2 Players, other than skip/vice-skip,should remain between the hoglines (or courtesy lines) when theopposition is playing especiallyat the delivery end.
R4 (a)(i)
3 Players, other than person in chargeof house for each team, should notstand in the house whilst the scoreis being decided or measure beingdone. Players should stand behindback line or at hog line.
R11 (d)
4 Damage to ice: keep hands orknees off the ice.
R10 (a)
5 Sweeping motion must be acrossthe running path of the stone: inother words no “snowploughing”.
R7(a)and
R7(g)
6 Sweeping behind the tee line:only skip or vice skip of non-playing team may sweep whenopposition are playing.
R7(e)and
R7(g)
7 Time wasting /ready to play. C6 (j) +
8 Measuring: don’t use a brush tomeasure as risk of moving stoneand automatically losing the shot.
R11(d)
9 Don’t use mobile phones on theice during a game.
R10(b)
10 Don’t cross from one side of thesheet to the other in front of theplaying team when they about todeliver or their stone is in motion.
R4 (a)(ii)
RULE BREAKINGWhich rules are most oftenignored or forgotten?Are you guilty of any of thefollowing?Are your team membersguilty of any of them?
In other sports such as golf, when do you seeplayers moving when their opponent is about toputt, or walking on a player’s line, causing spikemarks? Seldom: so why does the equivalenthappen so frequently in curling?
Below are the top ten ‘rule breakers’ at Cluband Province level, in the view of the majority ofthe Royal Club’s umpires.
Playing the game carries with it the obligation toobserve the rules of the game, so everyone has apart to play. For the vast majority, it is a lack ofknow-ledge or thoughtlessness, rather than adeliberate attempt to gain an advantage.
So, please play your part within the Spirit ofCurling to improve the game.
Spirit of Curling
Team Owen’s 8-enderCongratulations to Team Owen on scoringa last-gasp maximum!
David Owen, Clare Sloan, Tom Owenand Derek Purdie can now join the 8-Enderclub as they scored the maximum in the lastsession at the LionsBonspiel.
With a quitewonderfully playedlast stone triple take-out, David madehistory at theDumfries Ice Bowl.Curling at Dumfrieshas been played for18 years and this isthe first maximum atthe facility. Here is David’s view of how ithappened:
“Looking back, it was a strange feelingsitting in the hack. It helped that we pickedthe shot quickly and then played it, so Ididn't have all that much time to thinkabout what was happening. I had notnoticed that all the other sheets hadstopped play to watch. I think the fact that
I had to make a triple took the pressure off.If it had been a draw, I think I would havebeen nervous. So, sitting in the hack, I wasquite calm.
“However, as the stone was travellingdown the ice, I got abit more vocal withthe “Yes/No”sweeping calls than Inormally would! Ididn’t see the laststone exit the house,as I was watchingthe 3rd hit stonenarrowly squeezepast the counter itwas almost frozen to.
“When I did look up, I realised it hadn’tjammed on anything and was making itsway out. It was the most surreal feeling Ihave had in curling!”
Photo courtesy of Graham Sloan
The next edition of YOUR Curler is due out earlyDecember (content submissions by 26 November).In the meantime, keep up to date with curling news
and information atwww.royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org
And, for other commentary on curling, visitwww.skipcottagecurling.blogspot.com
YOUR Curler is published by the Royal CaledonianCurling Club on a monthly basis during the winter
season. General enquiries to Cairnie House, Ingliston,Newbridge, Midlothian, EH28 8NB. T: 0131-333 3003.
E: [email protected] Curler enquiries to:
There have been many discussionsamong curlers, often late into thenight, about how the British Olympicand Paralympic teams should beselected.
Dave Crosbee, our PerformanceDirector, and his coaching team havebeen reviewing the past policies, as theydevelop the process for 2014 in Sochi.They have grasped the task withobjectivity and rigour, to understandhow to maximise our chances whilstmitigating the risks.
There are two basic philosophies;either ‘first past the post’, where someform of selection event takes place at agiven point in time and the winners areselected; or a ‘coach pick’, wherecoaches or a selection panel chooseathletes and/or teams based on criteria,either objective, subjective or mostlikely a mix of both. Our last twoOlympic teams were selected by coachpick and the previous two were byperformance, based on a number ofgames.
The team have compared what ourcompetitor nations are doing, trying tounderstand their reasons for theirapproach (which may not always be forperformance reasons) and the resultsobtained.
In all of the top eight nations (includ-ing Canada) in the Paralympics, teamsare all chosen by the coach pick method.For the Olympic teams, the top tennations are evenly split with five usingeach method. They have comparedcurling against other Olympic sports(rowing, sailing, canoeing, cycling,hockey and swimming) and they all usethe coach pick method, supplementedwith some degree of measurableperformance.
The only definitive conclusion thatcan be drawn is that ‘first past the post’is consistently successful for Canada,with a million curlers. Most of the othernations of comparative player talentpool to GB have either moved to, or arein the process of moving to some formof ‘coach pick’ style of selection.
But “curling is unique”, some maysay. Well, having considered the aspectsof the game often cited as being unique,and when compared to other sportsmentioned above, each of the sports hasa need for: team spirit, reliance onothers, understanding team mates’strengths/weaknesses, developing trustand experience of playing together.
Additionally, the analysis establishedthat the unique thing about curling is
The HammerOlympiccoach
pick rules
the ability to affect the outcome of thestone through sweeping. The method ofmaking this effective is by communicationand clear understanding between teammates. So, although the process isunique, the competencies required arenot.
In countries like ours, where the talentpool is not very deep, injury or illness ofkey athletes presents a real risk to beingable to select the best team. This isexacerbated by the fact that, duringcompetitions, replacements/subs willneed to come from outwith the topflight players.
Taking account of the size of thecurrent talent pool, to minimise therisks involved and to ensure all eligibleathletes across GB are considered withinthe selection process, the recommend-ation for the selection system for 2014 isto use a ‘coach pick’ system.
This conclusion should not be seen asa fixed viewpoint, as it is informedthrough the factors and environmentthat exist in curling in Britain at thispoint in time, and should be reviewedevery Olympic cycle.
Any comments/ observations would bewelcome before 18 November 2011 [email protected]
Quickfire Roundwith LYNNE MacKENZIE
Name: Lynne MacKenzieCurling Club: Avondale Heather CCProfession: National Coaching OfficerBegan curling at the age of: 10Biggest misconception about curlers?They are all posh!Take out or draw? DrawFavourite post game drink? Cup of tea!Curling hero? Back in the early days –Addison sisters and Lyburn brothersSomething about yourself? Recentlymarried and now learning how tocompromise!Your biggest achievements in curling?Winning the 2008 Kolibris cup in aDutch/Scottish aliiance team. Qualifiedas a coach course verifier and supportingchange in the education structure.
The Adult Curling Camp 2011 was fullysubscribed in record time this season, andthe Royal Club welcomed 35 participantsto the Green Hotel Leisure Resort inSeptember for a weekend of coaching in asociable environment.
This was the fourth year in successionthat the Royal Club has hosted the camp,and it continues to go from strength tostrength, highlighted by the number ofreturners from previous camps.
The weekend started with the ‘meet andgreet’, which gives participants the
opportunity to mix with their fellowattendees and the coaches. Following thevery competitive, people bingo andtraditional beetle drive, the continued humof chatter throughout the room showed theice had been well and truly broken.
It was interesting to speak to people tofind out where they had travelled from andlearn of their curling experiences. Onceagain there was a great mix, with peopletravelling from across Scotland and as farafield as Chesham in the south.
After an early bed in anticipation of the
weekend’s activities, everyone met at 9amand were split into groups for a day ofactivities on and off the ice. Activitystations covered all aspects of the game,including delivery analysis, weight control,handles and release, sweeping, strategyand technology and equipment. Coachingwas provided by Judith McFarlane, ClaireMilne, Colin Morrison, Tom Pendreigh andSheila Swan.
On Sunday, after loosening off someslightly tender muscles, we completed therotation of stations and competed in the bigfinale, Hot Shots. This gave everyone theopportunity to test all the new skills theyhad learned, coupled with some friendlyrivalry. Split into four groups, there werevarious challenges including a 16-Ender,draw shot and take out for team points.This was a great way to finish the weekend,with the Orange Group taking the spoils.We were visited by Royal Club PresidentPat Eddington on Sunday, and hepresented Black Noir curling stones to thewinning team.
Feedback has been excellent with somepositive suggestions to take forward.
Article by Sheila Swan and David JonesPhoto courtesy of Andy MacPherson
Adult Curling Camp
CURLING SEASON 2011-201220 SEPTEMBER 2011 - 27 MARCH 2012
SESSION TIMES MONDAY - SUNDAY10am; 12.30pm; 3pm; 5.30pm; 7.30pm; 9.30pm
Home of the Edinburgh InternationalFriday 25 November - Sunday 27 November 2011
Seniors 23 - 24 November
Ladies Sellar - OpenTuesday 17 Jan - Thursday 19 Jan 2012
Murrayfield Gathering23 - 25 March 2012
Manager: Iain BaxterAdministrator: Debbie Kerr
Riversdale CrescentEdinburgh EH12 5XN
Tel: 0131 337 4242Fax: 0131 346 4654
Email: [email protected]: www.murrayfieldcurling.co.uk
Back in January, a team of Scottish curlers foundthemselves taking part in the ‘Belle Epoque’ week inKandersteg in the Swiss Alps. This event takes theform of a themed week with traditional winteractivities in period dress (late 19th/early 20thcentury).
Curling is one of the sports, and the Scots wereinvited out for the week to take part in thecelebrations. And some week it was – a costumedparade through the village, four days of outdoorcurling, coaching 80 local school kids, a successionof dinners and gala evenings, TV crews from fivecountries, and more than a few whiskies made for avery social event.
The Scots’ outfits weren’t historically accurate, butthe organisers had insisted on kilts - looks better onTV! The ice was surprisingly good (sliding deliveriespossible) and the surrounding mountains gave it avery special atmosphere.
Despite the full programme, there was time to doa bit of skiing, and winter walking as well, tocomplete an excellent winter holiday. Oh, and yougot to risk your life on the traditional bob run… inthe dark! The village has a reputation for good foodand this was very much in evidence at the eveningevents.
After the success of the event over the last coupleof years, the organisers are expanding theprogramme for 2012 and are planning an outdoor
‘Grand Match’ - in Belle Epoque style of course! Thisis to take place on the second weekend of the event,and they would like to invite teams from Scotland totake part. The competition will start on the Friday(27 January) with the finals on Sunday morning.
The main hotel in town – the Victoria Ritter(which hosted the Scots) is offering a specialpackage for all visiting teams as follows:
Come to Grand Match in KanderstegInternational Belle Epoque ‘Grand Match’ (Max 24teams and, of course, all in old style)Arrival: Thu 26.01.2012 Dep: Sun 29.01.2012The package includes the following:� 3 nights in a standard twin room at the Hotel
Victoria Ritter in Kandersteg� breakfast buffet� tournament fee� return cable car ticket to Oeschinensee (frozen
lake in the mountains)� 1 picnic lunch at Oeschinensee� all taxes and VAT
Price: CHF 355.00 per person (approx £200)Optional supplements:
extra nights (before or after tournament): CHF85.00 per personcomfort twin room: CHF 25.00 per person andnighthalfboard: CHF 35.00 per person and nightBelle-Epoque ball on Friday or Saturday: CHF160.00 per person
Tournament Programme:Begin: Friday morning 27.01.2012Excursion to Oeschinensee: Saturday afternoon28.01.2012 (incl. lunch)Finals: Sunday morning 29.01.2012Prize-giving: Sunday 29.01.2012, 1 pm.For more information, or to enter a team, pleasecontact Casi Platzer [email protected] more info on the event :http://www.kandertal.travel/en/belle_epoque/epoqueKandersteg is easily accessible with Easyjet flightsto Geneva and Basle, followed by a couple of hourson the train or driving.n Photos courtesy of Calum Macnee
OGs celebrate a half-centuryThe members of Old GrammariansCurling Club celebrated their 50th
anniversary with a bonspiel atGreenacres Ice Rink on 22 October.
Twenty-four members playedagainst visitors from four clubs
closely associated with OGCC byway of many years of closely fought
friendly matches. A team fromRenfrewshire Province committee
also participated.The bonspiel of four games of two
ends each, with teams changingrinks for each game, was played in a
friendly manner - although oneteam did take a score of seven shots
at one end from their opposition.After the game and some
hospitality, a celebratory birthdaycake was cut by Club PresidentCraig Urquhart and Honorary
Member Moira Gillespie. The clubminute book revealed that Moira
had been President at the 25thAnniversary.
Preceding the dinner, ProvincePresident Jim Jamieson made a few
well-chosen remarks and endedwith a toast to the Club. President
Craig replied on behalf of OGCCand briefly outlined the starting
history of the club, and the reasons
for its normal playing time at 3.00pmon Saturdays (it was the time most ofthe members had free from workcommitments), and some othergeneral points of note about the cluband its members over 50 years.
Prizes of food hampers werepresented to the highest-up rink,which turned out to be an OGCCteam with plus 10 shots. Similarprizes were also awarded to thehighest-up rink from the visitors side,and this was given to the team fromGleniffer with plus 5 shots. Prizeswere also given to the booby teamfrom OGCC with minus 14 shots.
To conclude the evening, KenGillespie, with 48 years playing forthe club, give a vote of thanks to allinvolved in the organising andrunning of the event, whichappeared to have been enjoyed byall judging by the conversation andlaughter which had been noticeablethroughout the evening.
Winners photo: (left-to-right)Alasdair Macdonald, Ian Barclay,Enid Park, Norman Laird, Bill Park,Antje Urquhart, wife of the clubpresident.n Article/images: Hamish Sutherland
News from around the RinksAyr Ice Rink
History was made during an inter-clubgame between Kirkoswald and Millport on10 October, when an 8-ender was scored -the first recorded 8-ender in Kirkoswald’s174-year history. Despite the rink, of JimHenry(skip), George Hodge, Marion Hodgeand Jim Rosenburgh, having 142 years ofage between them, none of them had everbeen involved in an 8-ender before.
Moray Leisure CentreThe ice rink in Elgin was the place to be foran ICE4ALL day. This event was held topromote all ice sports at the Centre in acombined effort by the ice rink and itsusers to catch the interest of potentialcustomers by running a Come and Try IceSport event.
The ice pad was split into three sectionsso that all sports were running at the sametime. Although thought of as a mad,impossible idea it ran exceptionally well.The complete ice pad had been prepared bythe ice technicians for 2 hours for a curlingonly Come and Try in the morning.
This was organised by Moray ProvinceCurling Development Group with over 30members of the public, from 8 years of ageto one couple looking for a new hobby at70-plus and all the other ages in between.Several have shown interest in returningfor the adult coaching sessions onMondays (5-6.45pm) and junior sessions onWednesdays (5.30-6.45pm).
The afternoon ICE 4ALL session wasfrom 1-4pm, with the ice pad split intothree sections: curling on two sheets withthe balance of the ice pad coned off intotwo sections across the other three sheetsfor the ice hockey players and MorayFigure Skaters.Each sport took a break from the Comeand Try sessions to demonstrate their ownsport, using their up-and-coming juniortalent.
Borders CurlingDue to the large uptake of ice from theDevelopment Group and their grant for the8 - 80+ Project, the Kelso rink had a verysuccessful season last year and lookedforward to local clubs booking extra ice toaccommodate their new members. Thisseems not to be the case, however, as theclub bookings for contract ice for the 2011-12 season is actually down a little. Butthere are still a few clubs using thispromotional ice and more bookings toaccommodate the members is expected.
Kinross Curling Club
Kinross Ladies’ Open Bonspiel was held on18 October with 14 rinks competing fromall over Scotland. The atmosphere wasfriendly, but the competition was fierce.The winners were Ann Maree Davidson’srink of ladies who had toured the USA inJanuary, beating Mary Barr’s local rink intosecond place. In the picture above (left-to-right): Lynne Stevenson, Ann MareeDavidson, Liz Paul and Margaret Cairns.
Stranraer Ice RinkPhotos courtesy of Gail Munro
Stranraer Ice Rink hosted the FamousGrouse weekend, its first sponsoredweekend competition of the season, from21-23 October. The final was contested bythe rinks skipped by John Davie andMargaret Richardson, with Margaretmaking a cool draw to the four foot in anextra end to clinch the game for her teamand take the Grouse home for another year.Stranraer Ice Rink opened its season bywelcoming lady curlers from Inverness, Stirling,Kinross, Perth, Edinburgh, Hamilton, Green-acres, Dumfries and Stranraer to play in theLadies Branch Unders & Overs Competition.The final featured Gail Munro, Stranraer, versusMarion MacDonald, Hamilton, with Gail winningby 8 shots to 6. The 3/4 play-off was contestedby Christine Cannon, Stranraer, versus JanHoward, Greenacres, with Christine winning by8 shots to 4. Enjoyed by all, and lookingforward to next year already!The Scottish Senior Mixed Championshipwas well contested in Stranraer, with 20teams competing for the titles. Archie Craigand his team (below) of Marion Craig,Robin Aitken and Yvonne Aitken stole ashot in the last end to claim the ScottishSenior Mixed title for a second year.
(continuedon page 8)
News from south of the BorderThe second Duncan Stewart Trophy washeld at Fenton’s Rink in Kent and wasgraced by the presence of Duncan’s widow,Mary (pictured), who presented the prizes -including a bottle of wine for eachparticipant (although the Junior playerswere asked to give it to their parents!).
Six teams participated, though five ofthem had only three players and it wasdisappointing that only one player fromthe northern clubs was able to attend. Eachplayer was allocated to a group and theteams were drawn so that the ability levelswere spread around. Four sessions wereplayed and at the end of the competition itwas only ends won that separated the topthree teams, showing that the draw hadproduced some well-balanced teams.
Last year’s winner John Brown startedoff the defence of his title in good form,defeating Doug Andrews by 14-2 – but itwas his last win of the weekend, as he wasequally badly beaten by John Sharp (9-1) inthe second round. John S had lost out toJohn B last year, in spite of a similarlyheavy victory in the last round, but aftertwo good wins on the Saturday this year hehad to leave the team in the hands of BenFowler on the Sunday. But that was no badthing, as Ben won the third game by 11-3,so that the team were in the driving seatgoing into the last game having a 3-endcushion over their nearest rivals, skippedby Hetty Garnier.
Probably a good job, too, as againstDoug Andrews, who had recovered wellfrom his first-round defeat, they lost a 6 atthe third end before they rallied well tolose by just 4-11 and splitting the ends 3each - thus running out the winners by 4
ends over Hetty and 6 ends over Doug.The winning team were John Sharp /
Ben Fowler, Angharad Ward and PixieChung, while second were Hetty Garnier,Susan Young and Aly Ewan (who hadtravelled down from Fife) and third wereDoug Andrews, Ernest Fenton / MikeRobinson (two games each), James Gibband Debbie Hutcheon (the only four-person team in the competition – and tomake it fair, only one of the sweepers wasallowed to sweep each stone).
Altogether six of the competitors werefrom the Junior teams and without them itis fair to say that the competition wouldnot have been such a success.
This is reflected in the entries for thevarious English Championships. In theWomen’s Championship, the currentEngland Junior team, skipped by AnnaFowler, is up against the only otherentry, skipped by the current championskip, Fiona Hawker, who has had tochange her line-up as two of her current
team are in the Junior squad!In the men’s Championship, the Juniors
form 3/4 of one of seven entries with BenFowler skipping, while there are entriesfor the current champions, skipped byAlan MacDougall, and last year’s jointrunners-up skipped by Jamie Malton andJames Dixon. A single round robin will beplayed and expectations are for anotherclose result.
In the Mixed Championship there will bea new champion skip for the first timesince the competition began back in 2005,as Alan MacDougall has decided to take abreak, not least because two of his teamwill not be available. And so thecompetition is wide open. There are fourentries and again a team of 3 out of 4Juniors, skipped by Ben Fowler, has beenentered, and two of the other juniorwomen are playing for Kerr Alexander. Atthe other end of the scale, John Brown’steam of Seniors will be trying to show thatthere is still life at over 50!
Finally the Mixed DoublesChampionship has received six entries.Triple Champion John Sharp has a newpartner in Lorna Rettig, while three of thejuniors appear in the entry list again.
All of these Championships will betaking place this year at Fenton’s Rink forthe first time, as will the JuniorChampionships at the end of October,where the defending champions both faceopposition. Only the SeniorChampionships are being held away fromKent, taking place at Greenacres in earlyDecember.
Article by John Brown Photo by Rosaleen Boardman
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Round the Rinks (continued from p7)
Murrayfield Ice RinkSeveral events were competed during October:The Pate Trophy was retained by Midlothian.The President’s Pitcher, kindly sponsored by
Sheila Miller, took place on 10 October, andwon by Norma Taylor and her team of JeanGorrie, Fiona Cumming and Gillean Hoehnke.The Gogar Salver, kindly and very generously
sponsored by Bill Roy OBE, won by Robert Taitfrom Hamilton after a very tight final with StuartMarshall from Greenacres.The Dunvegan Quaich, kindly sponsored by
Gogar Park, was retained by Rebecca Stevenand her team of Jennifer Marshall, Karen Munroand Hannah Findlay.
A recent weekend also saw a largenumber of Murrayfield juniors(including Bruce Mouat, a part-time icetechnician at the Rink) playing in
Oslo. Bruce and Jennifer Dodds both finished inbronze positions, with Abi Brown, lead for the Flemingteam, coming out as winners – well done to them all.
