'Wheelchair Watch' columns published in
SWEEP! Magazine
Championship Curling Coming Of Age - January 2010
In a reassuring sign of the health of competitive
wheelchair curling, seven of the nine provinces sending teams to the
National Championships in Kelowna 15-21 March, are holding playdowns
rather than selection camps to decide their representatives. [read more]
Lots of
trophies, different winners - December 2009
November has been the
busiest ever month for international wheelchair curling competition.
Korea, Japan, Great Britain and USA have all played in Canada, while
Canada finished the month in Prague. [read
more]
Canada prepares
for 2010 - November 2009
This season began with
an eight person Team Canada training squad, With the coaching staff
committed to two females, BC’s Jackie Roy was added as cover for Ina or
Sonja. British Columbia continued to dominate the final team as
Manitoba’s Chris Sobkowicz and BC’s Gerry Austgarden were cut. [read
more]
Jim Armstrong plays Whack-A-Mole
as Canada win gold - April 2009
The smiles were a long
time coming, but when it was finally time to sing, the tune was O
Canada. The Maple Leaf rose centre flag for the first time at a World
Wheelchair Curling Championship and Team Canada skip Jim Armstrong had
shown in the playoffs that you don't play for 50 years through six
Briers without knowing how to coax your opponents into playing your
game. [read more]
It's Championship time -
March 2009
At the Worlds I’ll be
discovering how far curling extends beyond each national team. Jim
Armstrong told the Vancouver Courier that typically a sport establishes
itself at the grassroots before it holds national or Olympic/Paralympic
events. Not wheelchair curling. "They've already got all the perks like
the world championships, the Canadian championship and appropriate
funding," he observed. "Now it just needs more players." [read
more]
Changing of the guard as Team
Canada face tough challenge at Worlds - February 2009
Sonja Gaudet, picked as
alternate, was the sole survivor from Canada’s 2006 gold medal
Paralympic team when Team Canada 2009 was finally announced a week
before Christmas. To no one’s surprise Jim Armstrong will skip, with
Darryl Neighbour at 3rd and Ina Forrest and Chris Sobkowicz at the front
end. Chris, from Winnipeg MB, is the first non-BC athlete to make the
team since the departure of Chris Daw. [read
more]
Canada in form in run-up to Worlds - December 2008
With the Paralympics
just 16 months away, wheelchair curling's international calendar has
become so busy that national teams are having to pick and choose which
events to attend. [read more]
Armstrong cleared
to curl for Canada - November 2008
“Though my reliance on
my wheelchair is increasing,” he said. “I think it was the opportunity
to discuss my situation in person with the WCF assessor, have a real
appraisal of my degree of disability, rather than any particular change
in my mobility, that led to my being cleared to play in WCF events.”
[read
more]
New rules to benefit the game -
October 2008
As wheelchair curling
matures, it is moving closer to the able-bodied game. Summer rule
changes lifted the patronising 6-end limit and brought in time clocks to
put a stop to 3 hour games.
[read
more]
2007/8 Season Wrap-up - April
2008
The sixth season of wheelchair curling in Canada closes with the TSX
sponsored 2008 National Championships in Winnipeg at the end of March.
[read
more]
Norway repeat as World Champions -
March 2008
Defying team
statistics,
Norway
(worst) beat Korea (best) 5-3 in an extra end to retain their World
Championship title in Sursee, Switzerland.
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.
[read
more]
Goodbye Chris.
Hello Jim? February 2008
..... "Having an Armstrong, or a similarly knee-wrecked
Pal Trulsen, call the game
would be a huge advantage over teams skipped by players limited in
experience to the six years or so of this sport's existence."
[read
more]
"What have you done
for me lately?" December 2007
Coach selection for
last season's Team Canada was heavily weighted to favour the Torino gold
medalists. This year it's "what have you done for me lately."
[read
more]
When is a wheelchair curler not a wheelchair curler?
- November 2007
When he (or she) does not use a wheelchair
for their daily mobility, according to WCF eligibility rule 2g. Enter
all-round good guy and 6-time Brier competitor Jim Armstrong whose playing
career was curtailed by knee injuries.
[read
more]
Team Canada berths
wide open - October 2007
The 13
wheelchair curlers in the National Team Program Athlete Pool have been told
they start the season with an equal opportunity to wear the maple leaf at
the 2008 World Championships in Switzerland. [read
more]
National team
selection
breaks with tradition - January 2007
The 13 wheelchair curlers in the National Team Program
Athlete Pool have been told they start the season with an equal
opportunity to wear the maple leaf at the 2008 World Championships in
Switzerland. [read more]
We Welcome Wheelchair Curlers - April 2006
Curling seems an ideal winter recreation for the tens of thousands of people
in Canada who use wheelchairs. Games are played with the same rocks on the
same ice as regular curling and almost every community has a curling rink,
with generally a ramp-able drop onto the ice for access. Equipment costs are
minimal; no more than a delivery stick, often available for loan from the
club. [read more]