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My family has never curled. We have attended many curling events as we love to watch the sport, but we have never actually curled. Apparently, my father curled in the 60’s in Kitchener Waterloo, but that was before I was born.

My children and I watched on television as Team Canada won the Olympic Gold Medal in men’s curling in 2006 in Turin. We were hooked. My parents are from Newfoundland and my mother watched along with us as we cheered on Team Gushue. My father was long deceased, but my mother told stories to my children of my father curling and the trophies she still had belonging to him.

After that we watched many curling events and started following both the men’s and women’s curling. As a family we attended the Road to the Roar in 2013 in our hometown of Kitchener. By then my children were almost all grown up. My son Michael was 19, my daughters Ayla and Cara were 17 and 15. We attended the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in St. Catharine’s in 2017 and then my children started heading in different directions. Michael and Cara moved to Vancouver for work and school, and Ayla moved to Guelph for school.
As a family we still followed what was happening in curling and talked about it all the time. We would watch it and text back and forth about the fantastic shots or the unfortunate mistakes of the teams we were watching. As a Christmas gift, my children bought me a learn to curl package in 2019. I never got to use it because of the pandemic as the program was cancelled for 2020-2021. We still watched all of the tournaments and the Olympics.

My son traveled a lot, all over the world and he would still follow the curling events and we would chat about all of the team player shuffles and the changes in the sport. We would watch events together while chatting virtually as he was traveling. When Michael was home for Christmas 2021 and he gifted me a pair of socks with images of curling rocks on them to wear when we watched the matches together, even if we could not be in the same place. I have included a picture I sent to him in March of 2022 as we watched the Tim Horton’s Brier, he in Vancouver and myself in Kitchener. Team Gushue was our favourite and we cheered his team on as they won to become Team Canada once again.

When we discovered that the Brier would be held in London, Ontario in 2023, we decided to get tickets for the event. Michael could not attend due to work commitments unfortunately, and my sister (who is also a curling fan and would attend all of the events in Alberta) flew in from Red Deer and attended the event with me. We had purchased tickets for my 87 years young mother to join us, but she was not well enough to attend. We made a poster and placed it in her seat at the event so our family who were watching at home could find us. I wore my beloved curling socks as we cheered on Team Gushue and we were so excited when they won. Michael and I were messaging back and forth throughout the event, celebrating our favourite team’s success.

During this time Michael told me that he and his good friend Mickey were going to join a curling league in Vancouver in the fall. He was very excited about this as we talked about my finally attending the Learn to Curl program in Elmira, Ontario (and trying not to break a hip) and one day getting to actually curl together. We had a plan.

Sometimes even the best laid plans do not come to fruition. My son Michael turned 30 on September 2nd of 2023. His sisters, his friends and I all came together to celebrate with him in Tofino BC. It was a wonderful time in a beautiful place. We talked of our curling plans for the fall after Michael returned from a business trip to Portugal. Sadly, Michael never got to join that Vancouver curling league as he died in an accident in Portugal on September 16th, 2023.

Losing a child is the most heartbreaking experience a mother can ever go through. I miss my son more than I could ever put into words. Our family is heartbroken with this loss, but we choose to celebrate Michael every chance we get
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My daughters, Michael’s friends and I all came together in Vancouver in September of 2024 to celebrate his first heavenly birthday. I crocheted 31 mountains in honour of his 31st birthday. We have left these mountains in many of Michael’s favourite places with a note containing the hashtag #31mountains. It has been amazing as some of these mountains have traveled across Canada and to South America and Europe. We hope they will travel to some of the countries that Michael never got to travel to. Michael was an adventurer who worked in tourism and he had traveled to more than 20 countries in his short, beautiful life. This is a way for us to carry on his adventures.

Michael lived in Nelson BC for 6 months in 2021-2022. While living in Nelson, he traveled to Kelowna a lot and would sometimes watch the Kelowna Rockets play (as being from Kitchener we are big Junior A hockey fans as well). Knowing that the Brier is being played in that rink this year, my daughter Cara and I are planning to attend the opening weekend and hopefully place some of the mountains in the Kelowna area. We know Michael would have loved that and he will be with us in spirit as we cheer on our favourite teams. I will be wearing my beloved curling socks and thanking my son for all of the beautiful memories.

It’s true, my children and I have never curled but curling has brought us together in many ways and given me many happy memories that I will cherish forever.

2012 Masters final. NL v QC. Tied after 5. 8 end game. NL hammer lying 4. NL third Wayne Hamilton throwing second shot. Makes shot to lie 5. Has nose bleed sliding out. Blood on ice from nose bleed noticed after shot. Game delayed 10 minutes while ice being scraped and re-pebbled. QC skip just waiting.misses next two shots. NL scores 6. Hand shakes.

People ask me all the time “do you curl?”
Nope, I say, but I’m a rabid fan!
They ask because I am ENTHUSIASTIC about curling. I have been known to schedule my weekends based on watching televised games, and I’ve gone to the Briar, the Worlds and GSOC matches and the recent Ontario Championships. I’ve got curling sweatshirts and friends buy me curling themed presents.
But more than that, curling is something that has always been part of my life. My parents curled and I felt at home in the viewing area, happy to change the names on the little chalk boards that posted the team names and eager to help return the rocks after the game.
Back then, in our small town, there weren’t any youth leagues so I didn’t learn to play as I child and that is something I regret. I tried as a teen, but the adult league wasn’t a good fit. But truthfully, I’m a better cheerleader than player of most sports anyway.
There is something about the sense of family and fun at the curling rink for both the players and spectators.
Maybe when I retire I’ll join a team, if they’ll take me, but even if I don’t I know that I’ll always keep up my enthusiastic cheering.

I have curled since I was 16 years old. I started in Regina but now live in Delta, BC. That’s been 56 years curling now! In 1993 I started dating my wife Cindy. She was not a curler but loved coming to watch me. It was obvious that she had to learn how to curl. She joined a team at the Tunnel Town Curling Club in Tsawwassen and quickly became addicted. She signed up for the Elaine Dagg’s Foot Curling camp and was an incredibly fast learner. I love watching her do her practice slides three quarter of the way down the ice almost to the far hotline! Cindy is a lefty and I am a righty. We have fun showing off as we slide out together at there same time with me from the left hack and Cindy for the right hack. We have attended the Four Foot Curling Camp together twice since she first went. One time in Kelowna our coach was Rachel Homen! Getting to know Rachel in-person was such a wonderful experience. She has such a great personality and she was such a good teacher. She is now one of our curling heroes. We Love Her! We married in 1996 and have curled together in Mixed and Doubles ever since. Cindy also curls in the ladies league at our club and I curl in the men’s. Cindy even made it to the senior ladies Provincial Playdowns when they were in Campbell River, BC a few years ago. Not bad for someone who never curled until we met. I am no longer her curling coach and teacher as she has become mine. We enter as many mixed and doubles bonspiels as we can each year. In Mixed and Doubles Bonspiels Cindy loves to participate and lead the fun of the event. She dresses me up in the Bonspiel theme every time. Our mixed Doubles team is an Irish name theme “Guiness & Murphy” Curling is truly the best couples sport there is. There is no need for us to be snowbirds. We spend our winters being “bonspiel birds”. It is so wonderful to have to love of my life also be the best curling partner I could ever want. She keeps me calm when the pressure is on with “Remember Ron, curling is for fun”. We love going to the Briar, and the Scotties. Even the Worlds in Vegas where the patch was at the pool! We would love to go to St Johns!

Hello my story is taking my kids into a cash bonspiel in quesnel bc they were 10 13 and 17 other teams would say that’s cute taking your kids the 2 girls and son until they saw how great little curlers they were and we won quite a bit of money and the son figured he would give up on his rep hockey and just keep curling lol sorry don’t think we have any pics it was 25 years ago lol

I still remember the day my nephew Robbie was born—too soon, too small, too fragile. The doctors warned my brother Bruce and sister-in-law Liz to prepare for the worst. He was only a pound, his tiny body covered in wires and tubes, fighting for every breath. We held onto hope, but I won’t lie—there were moments I was afraid to believe he’d make it.

But my father, Mac, Robbie’s grandfather, never wavered. He stood tall beside that hospital bed and said, “This boy’s a fighter.”

And oh, was he ever.

Robbie fought through every setback, every sleepless night in the neonatal ICU, every whisper of doubt. He came home after months in the hospital, still tiny but full of determination. He grew up small for his age, often sick, but with a fire in his eyes that told me he had something special inside him.

I saw it come alive the first time he stepped onto the ice at the Otterburn Legion Curling Club. He was five, bundled in layers, sitting on the bench watching my brother and Dad curl. He was too young to understand the strategy, too small to hold a full-size broom properly, but he was mesmerized.

“Want to try?” my Dad asked him.

Robbie nodded, and Dad helped him onto the ice. He wobbled at first, his breath quick from the cold air, but the moment he pushed his first stone, he was hooked. It was like curling had been waiting for him all along.

At ten, he was in the junior program, determined to prove himself. He wasn’t the strongest, and sometimes the sweeping left him breathless, but he never let that stop him. He played with heart, always reading the ice, always thinking two moves ahead.

As he grew older, curling became more than just a game. It became his passion, his community. And when he learned about Kurling for Kids, it struck a chord. The organization raised money for children’s hospitals—the same kind of hospital that had once saved his life. He knew what it was like to be a kid fighting for a chance, and supporting Kurling for Kids felt like a way to give back.

Robbie never personally organized a fundraiser, but he never missed a chance to participate. Whether it was playing in events, spreading the word, or encouraging others to get involved, he gave his full heart to it—just like he did with curling.

Now, at 32, Robbie is still on the ice, still sweeping, still playing with the same determination that kept him alive as a baby. He doesn’t coach or mentor, but his passion for the game is undeniable. He’s the kind of curler who shows up, gives his all, and reminds everyone why they love the sport.

Every time I watch him step onto the ice, I hear my Dad’s words in my head.

“This boy’s a fighter.”

Yes, he is. And I couldn’t be prouder.

Image included Bruce and Robbie

Curling has always been more than just a sport to me—it’s a passion, a tradition, and a part of who I am. From the first time I stepped onto the ice, I was hooked. The strategy, the finesse, the camaraderie—there’s something about the game that keeps calling me back. But now, curling has taken on an even deeper meaning as I watch my son fall in love with it, just as I did.

Last year, while watching the Sask Men’s SaskTel Tankard, he spotted a kids-sized curling broom, and from that moment, something clicked. His eyes lit up with excitement, and suddenly, curling wasn’t just something he saw me do—it was something he wanted to be part of. Now, he always asks to go curling, and I love every moment of taking him out onto the ice.

There’s something special about sharing this game with him, about watching his tiny hands grip the broom and his determined face as he tries to slide a rock down the sheet. It’s in those little moments—helping him with his stance, cheering him on, seeing his excitement after throwing a rock down the curling ice—that I realize curling isn’t just my passion anymore. It’s ours.

The sport that has given me so much is now giving him joy, confidence, and a sense of belonging. And for me, there’s nothing better than that.

I was down to the semifinals with my son and the city lost power lights went out and then 10 of my buddies were up in the vip booth they saw me I was in row 1 on one of the ends with my son They saw me and started to chant decker And my son thought I was famous The rest of the crowd joined in with there chant It was a great experience Looking forward to 2026

We own a cottage in Havelock Ontario.
The cottage is on Twil Lakes.
Since 2010 we have held a bonspiel curling o.n the Lake ice. We try to make it similar to indoor curling ice. We have rings, hacks, pebbler and a complete set of junior rocks. Every year we have a great time enjoying a bunch of laughs, few beverages and some interesting curling.

On this cold January evening I am staying warm indoors. While the music is playing in the background, I am relaxing in my lazy boy chair, with my senior dog close by to keep me company. As I look down at my right knee, elevated and wrapped in a hot compress, my two tabs of ibuprofen are finally kicking in. I ponder how I could have avoided my predicament of reactivating this old curling injury. In hindsight, I realise that I should have spent more time doing my usual active pregame stretches and actually do some static post game stretches after my curling game today.

Ironically, the importance of stretching was one of the topics covered at a mid season 3 day curling camp that I recently attended in Welland, ON. After camp I came back home with a lot of new curling tips , which I have been methodically incorporating into my curling games and also into my practice sessions. I have also kept in touch with 3 of my classmates and new curl friends, Cathy, Linda, and Shelley. We exchange updates on what we have been practising and some of the challenges that we have faced or overcome in our curling games.

As I reflect on our last day of camp, I do so with a smile on my face. As teammates and I played against another team of advanced curlers. Everyone got a chance to ascend, every end, into a new position. Erin, the Pro on our sheet, stayed in the house as she helped each new skip with strategy and broom placement.

By the last end in this game, my teammates and I were down by 3 points, without hammer. This prompted Erin, the Pro, to call for a team huddle in which we unanimously agreed that we had to play offensively and try to steel points. We started by placing a tight center guard , which later was promoted into the house. As the game unfolded, our offensive strategy paid off and we won the game by a point. We managed to steal 4 points in the last end.

As we were getting off the ice after the game, one of my teammates whispered to me and said ” we really weren’t that good” The lesson learned is that we had to outplay our opponent. Also, having a plan and implementing it paid off for the team.

Meet my teammates from left to right in photo;
Cathy McCallum (North Bay curler) played lead in the last end and help set up shots. She’s a helmet wearing senior who played her ukulele after camp dinners. Don’t ask her how old she is or ” it will cost you”. She has been working on calling out her rocks final destination prediction as she’s sweeping.

Linda Hooper (London curler) shot maker, and jokester. She jokingly asked if using her car seat warmer on the way to her game counts as a warm up? Uh, no. She creatively came up with some of the names we now call ourselves including Hot Shot Hotties, and curlfriends. She intends to upgrade her equipment soon by purchasing new shoes which will inevitably help her with her slide.

Shelley Upton (Welland curler) team leader with home ice advantage. She has been trying to get used to using two grippers while sweeping. Another new challenge has been placing her broom in the right place for extra curly recently sharpened rocks.

Andrea Smith (Almonte and Carleton Place curler) team cheerleader and enthusiatic sweeper. I have been in 2 bonspiels in January and will be in 2 more in February. I have been to a few practice sessions where I have been working on take out weight, angles, balance and rock rotation.

P.S. You can teach an old dog new tricks.