Wheelchair curling hasn't been around very long - the late 90s in Europe and since 2002 in Canada. Its inclusion as a Paralympics sport at the Torino Games in 2006 spurred the attention of national and regional curling associations, especially in Canada where a team skipped by Chris Daw brought home the first gold medals.

While Canadians celebrate that success, in a country where even the smallest community has curling ice, our sport has not yet caught the imagination of wheelchair users. CCA sponsored programs like Discover Curling, and corporate sponsorship for grassroots development from TSX will help, but change, if it comes, will blossom from the efforts of club curlers making their clubs wheelchair accessible and inviting wheelchair users to participate in our great sport.

With the next Paralympics Winter Games to be held in British Columbia in 2010, attention is again focused on fielding a competitive national team. But we need more than a successful national team if wheelchair curling is to take its rightful place as an inexpensive and accessible winter recreation for wheelchair users.

The resources of this site are dedicated to that goal. My own views as expressed in my columns for SWEEP magazine can be found in the articles section.

Gerry Peckham, the CCA's High Performance Coach remarked (September 2007) that he and his coaches were still on a journey of understanding just how different wheelchair curling is from the able-bodied game.

This is an understanding I have been encouraging here for three years now. Change is happening, albeit slowly, and you are welcome to contribute your ideas to the process.

In the meantime I'll leave you with a brief history of curling in Canada, and a rundown on how the game is played.

See you on the ice,
Eric Eales
February 1st, 2008
eric@wheelchaircurling.com

Wheelchair Curling in Canada

Wheelchair curling is played on the same ice with the same rocks and under the same rules as regular curling, though without sweeping. Stones are delivered from a stationary wheelchair with the stone being in contact with the centre line at release.

WCF and CCA sanctioned events are played over 6-ends and athletes must require use of a wheelchair for their daily mobility. Teams must be of mixed gender.

Click on this link to see the complete WCF rules that guide CCA sanctioned events.

WCF Rules for wheelchair curling (pdf) (txt)

Wheelchair curling started in Canada in 2002 when a team of Ontario athletes skipped by London’s Chris Daw challenged the Europeans at the 2002 World Championships in Sursee, Switzerland.

Their initial success, silver in 2002 and bronze in 2004 also in Sursee, prompted other provinces to begin their own programs; BC in 2003, Manitoba in 2004 and Alberta in 2005.

The inaugural Canadian National Championship was held in London, Ontario in 2004 when two BC teams challenged Team Canada and Ontario. Daw’s Team Canada won, and successfully defended their title in 2005 when they competed in Richmond BC against Ontario, Manitoba and BC.

The 2006 National Championship added Alberta, and the upcoming 2008 Nationals will have 8 teams, with newcomers Northern Ontario, Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada competing in Winnipeg in March 2008.

Team Canada’s squad was shaken up after a 6th place finish at the 2005 World’s in Scotland. Three BC athletes joined Ontarians Daw and lead Karen Blachford from Canada’s first original national team, and won gold at the 2006 Torino Paralympics.

The 2007 Team Canada was again skipped by Chris Daw, but with an otherwise BC team. They had a disappointing Worlds, losing to Scotland in the bronze medal game. A National Talent Pool (NTP) was formed for the 2008 season from the five Team Canada members, the BC National Champions, and four "talent identified" invitees. Each NTP member was given an opportunity to play in an international bonspiel, and the team for the 2008 Worlds was selected from those who performed best. Chris Daw withdrew before the selection was announced, and Gerry Austgarden is now Team Canada skip, while Darryl Neighbour throws 4th stones.

At the 2008 Worlds Canada, 6-3 in round robin play, made the 1-2 Page playoff game, but for the third successive championship failed to reach the podium. They came within an open hit of a medal, but the last rock muse that won them Torino gold deserted them in their semi-final loss to Norway.

Darryl Neighbour (last rocks) and Ina Forrest (2nd) led at their positions in a team 57% performance, second only to Korea's outstanding 60%. (Without sweeping, 50% has been the performance benchmark.) 

Canada just couldn’t find a way to win when it mattered, losing 2-7 to Korea in the playoff, 5-6 to Norway in the semi, and in a game where the coaches share responsibility for a flat performance, 1-8 to USA for bronze.

Most wheelchair curlers play in leagues with and against able-bodied curlers, though the game with its use of delivery sticks integrates extremely well with the increasingly popular able-bodied stick curling. Wheelchair curling is not an aerobic activity, and the added involvement of pairs play is proving very popular and may be the impetus for future growth.