Mike Harris
Mike Harris' career in curling has been outstanding!. Click here
Why not? It’s a fun sport that helps develop balance, coordination and flexibility. Strategy is a huge part of the game and is compared to “chess on ice”; it certainly aids concentration, confidence and self-esteem.
ABOUT CURLING
What sport throws rocks at houses, begins the action from hacks, uses brooms for purposes other than cleaning floors, and where the primary goal is to draw the button.
Well there is a sport that does just that! It’s played by people from 6 to 96 at all skill levels and we know it best as CURLING.
It’s a fun sport that helps develop balance, coordination and flexibility. Strategy is a huge part of the game and is compared to “chess on ice”; it certainly aids concentration, confidence and self-esteem.
A curling team consists of four players, each throwing two stones (rocks) during an interval called an end. When an end is completed a total of sixteen stones will have been thrown. The basic objective is to complete each end with your stones closer to the centre of the target. The score is determined by the team that has the most stones closest to the centre of the target. Generally a game is eight ends in duration, but games can vary in length.
Competitions, bonspiels, leagues, school curling and special needs activities all form part of the curling fabric in Ontario.
COMPETITIONS
Competitions involve the highest skill levels, and usually include several levels of play. Teams must win at one level to be able to progress to the next one and so on. Some competitions include as many as five levels, starting at the local Zone play and proceeding all the way through Regional, Provincial, Canadian Championships to a World Title. Prizes are not important in competition, usually the right to proceed to the subsequent level is the goal. Crests, or small trophies or gifts may be awarded.
BONSPIELS
Bonspiels, on the other hand, are relatively short-lived one-level tournaments. The skill level may be extremely high or it may be quite low, concentrating on fun and sociability. In Ontario well over 1,000 bonspiels are hosted each season, and they are as varied as the committee’s imagination. Many have specific themes involving costumes, game variations, lots of prizes and a host of wonderful meals. One well known junior bonspiel sends the winning teams (one girls and one boys) on a ten-day all expense trip to Switzerland every year!
Other specific bonspiels can be the Firefighters ‘Spiel and the Lefthanders Bonspiel. Amongst the junior bonspiels are cash ‘spiels, invitational bonspiels and so on.
“Fun Fact: One young lady of 14 in only her second year of play, finished the season with a coloured TV set, a Sony Walkman, a watch, and a Club Championship trophy.”
As well as competitions and bonspiels, curlers may also enjoy leagues of every type and description, clinics, seminars, camps and instructional courses.
COMPETITION SET-UP
LITTLE ROCKERS Age Group: 6-12 Team Make-up: Mixed Game Modifications: Rocks weigh 25 lbs (full size rocks weigh about 44 lbs), Shorter games, Smaller brooms Competitive Level: Bonspiels, leagues
“Fun Fact: One bonspiel trophy is a large bubble gum machine!”
BANTAMS Age Group: < 17 Team Make-up: Girls, Boys, Mixed Game Modifications: Shorter games Competitive Level: Provincial Championship, Can. Winter Games, Ont. Winter Games
“Fun Fact: It is great fun to have team jackets, a qualified coach and have curling buddies all over the province. Skill level is excellent.”
JUNIORS Age Group: < 21 Team Make-up: Jr. Women, Jr. Men, Jr. Mixed Game Modifications: Fully officiated events, time outs, coaching, etc. Competitive Level: Jr. Women and Jr. Men can go all the way to a Jr. World Championship, Mixed goes only to Provincial level
“Fun Fact: Teams are piped on the ice and enjoy all sorts of other perks. Recently 97 Jr. Men’s teams entered at the zone play down level – only one team makes it all the way to win the Provincial Championship and go on to the Canadians. That’s quite a feat!”
SCHOOL CURLING - ELEMENTARY Team Make-up: Mixed Game Modifications: Schools have their own rules and modifications based on the number of entries, ice available, etc. Competitive Level: Provincial Championships
“Fun Fact: Always a waiting list at the elementary level.”
SCHOOL CURLING - HIGH SCHOOL Team Make-up: Jr. Girls, Jr. Boys Game Modifications: Schools have their own rules and modifications based on the number of entries, ice available, etc. Competitive Level: Provincial OFSSA Championships
UNIVERSITY CURLING Team Make-up: Women, Men Competitive Level: Canadian Championships
“Fun Fact: Opportunity to go to FISU Winter Championships.”
ADULTS (Leading to the Women’s Scott Tournament of Hearts and the Men’s Brier) Age Group: 21 + Team Make-up: Women, Men, Mixed Competitive Level: Women and Men go to World Championships, Mixed go to Canadians
“Fun Fact: These are all very large prestigious events, held in arenas with lots of spectators, entertainment, etc.
Canada’s Sandra Schmirler won gold at the Olympics in Nagano, Japan, in 1998.”
INTERMEDIATES Age Group: 35 +, 40 + Team Make-up: Women, Men Competitive Level: Provincial Level
“Fun Fact: Before the hog line release rule came into play, some curlers could slide the entire length of the sheet and put the rock right on the button at the far end.”
SENIORS Age Group: 50 + Team Make-up: Sr. Women, Sr. Men, Sr. Mixed Competitive Level: Sr. Women and Sr. Men go to World Championships, Sr. Mixed goes to Provincials
“Fun Fact: Brushing helps maintain the rock’s momentum and therefore it travels further. Using stopwatches excellent brushers can judge the weight of the rocks and sweep when necessary.”
MASTERS Age Group: 60 + Team Make-up: Master Women, Master Men Game Modifications: Shorter Games, No more than two games scheduled in one day. Competitive Level: Provincial Championships
“Fun Fact: Even at this age the slide delivery allows for excellent balance and accuracy at “hitting the broom”.”
SPECIAL OLYMPICS Age Group: Open Team Make-up: Mixed Game Modifications: Special rules may apply, Games are shorter. Competitive Level: Provincial Championships
WHEELCHAIR Age Group: Open Team Make-up: Mixed Game Modifications: No sweeping allowed Competitive Level: Provincial, Canadian and Worlds, Also Paralympics sport.
“Fun Fact: Canadian wheelchair curlers were the first in the world to use the stick, to more accurately line up the target.”
STICK CURLING Age Group: Open Team Make-up: Mixed Game Modifications: Special rules may apply Competitive Level: Just in the development stage for competition.
“Fun Fact: Stick curling is becoming very popular for curlers with cranky knees and aching backs.”
BLIND CURLING Age Group: Open Team Make-up: Mixed Game Modifications: Special rules apply Competitive Level: Bonspiels
HEARING IMPAIRED/DEAF Age Group: Open Team Make-up: Mixed Game Modifications: Special rules apply Competitive Level: Bonspiels
Curling Terms
House - the target at either ends of the curling sheet. It is made up of 4 concentric circles, the largest being 12 feet in diameter. Rocks must be in the house to count, but only one team scores in each end (or inning as in baseball). The score is determined by how many rocks of one colour are closer to the button than the other team.
Button – the middle point of the house.
Hack - the foothold in the ice or “starting block” which must be used by all players to deliver the rock.
Weight - the speed of the rock. The brushers must determine whether the weight thrown is correct or not. If thrown with insufficient speed they will brush it to help maintain its travel. Draw weight is a slower rock meant to stop in the house or close to it. Take- out weight is sufficient to hit and remove other rock(s) from play
Hog line - the line 15 feet in front of the house by which a delivered rock must be released by the thrower.
Slider, gripper - foot gear for the curler. One foot needs a slider for the delivery of the rock; the gripper is used to help the curler maintain his movement in a safe fashion.
Mike Harris
Mike Harris’ career in curling has been outstanding! Starting from the junior ranks he graduated to the Ontario Men’s Provincial level of play. Having won the Ontario Championship in 2004, Mike has continued to compete at this level over the past 20 years, quite a feat in curling where so many teams are vying for that honour.
Mike did Canada proud at the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, when he won the silver medal against the best teams in the world. Winning the Olympic Trials and the right to represent Canada, from an incredibly powerful field, was like a dream come true for the Harris team. How proud they were to wear the Canadian colours at the Games.
Mike is also well known as the CBC’s favourite curling commentator and when the ice is out he spends his time as a golf pro. Congratulations, Mike, on your fantastic achievements!
HISTORY OF CURLING
People in Europe started various forms of the game many centuries ago but it is generally accepted that the game found its roots in Scotland in the 1500s. The game was originally played on frozen lakes and rivers throughout Scotland, using large stones found in the streams. The Scots developed the game by setting down the size of the rink, the details of the rocks and the rules of the game.
The game found its way to Canada in 1760. Canada continued to make developments to all parts of the game, improving the ice conditions, the rocks, the mechanics of the delivery and sweeping techniques and the strategy concepts. Canada is constantly creating innovations to ensure the game is more fun and more interesting to all skill and age levels.
Today Canada maintains its reputation of being the world leader amongst 45 curling nations at the adult mens’ and womens’ levels, as well as at the junior and the senior categories. Canadian wheelchair curling started just three years ago, and the Canadians immediately started using the delivery stick with tremendous success. The other countries soon followed suit which has caused the skill level of wheelchair curling to increase dramatically.
Fun Facts:
Hey, what’s this?
You can skate on curling ice, but you can’t curl on skating ice!
Curling ice, as a playing surface, is light years away from skating ice. Curling ice is pebbled to allow the rocks to glide over the surface of tiny bumps or pebbles; the temperature is controlled, as are the ice depth, the humidity and the air temperature; in fact every inch of the surface is carefully groomed.
Some of the first curling rocks in Canada were 45-75 pounds of metal – melted down from the cannon balls used in the battle between the French and the English near Quebec City.
Rocks. Curling rocks are made from special granite which comes from the British Isles. The latest Little Rocks are made from plastic which acts and reacts much like their bigger brothers. Original Little Rocks were cement-filled Javex bottles.
The largest rock in Scottish history weighed in at 117 pounds – imagine trying to manoeuvre that!
There are currently about 1 million curlers in Canada. Of those about 280,000 curl in the 260 clubs in Ontario.
Full size rocks weigh about 44 pounds. The sheet of ice is 146 feet from end to end, and just over 14 feet wide.
