Rocks & Rings goes to Sudbury

The Curling Canada Rocks & Rings program has worked with curling clubs across Canada to help grow Little Rock and Junior programs in many communities. Marg Hardie and Bill Sloan are not only Rocks & Rings instructors in the Sudbury area, but they also run the youth programs at the Sudbury Curling Club. Here is their story of working with curling clubs and helping build youth curling in the Sudbury area. Marg Hardie and Bill Sloan write: We have been working with the Rocks & Rings program for the past two years in the Sudbury area, helping introduce the sport in various schools. We were excited when the Onaping Recreation Committee, located just outside Sudbury, Ont., contacted us and said they wanted to sponsor three area schools to receive the Rocks & Rings program. We were eager to help them get their program started by bringing Rocks & Rings into the local schools and promote youth curling at the Onaping Club. Not only did their club get enthusiastic new youth curlers in a program, but a few parents also joined some leagues. We certainly look forward to watching this program grow over the next few years. One school has already committed to bringing the program back to their students in the fall. The Onaping Curling Club is just one of a few clubs in Northern Ontario utilizing this program to get kids on the ice. A school near the Sudbury Curling Club enjoyed the program so much the teachers couldn’t wait to get the students on the ice. After having the Rocks & Rings program at their school, the teachers contacted the Sudbury Curling Club and booked three days of ice for their students. Over the three days, 150 kids took what they had learned in the school gym and applied it on the curling ice. All six sheets were filled each day and the students really rocked the houses! Lots of laughs were had, some good shots made, and a few new faces are now in our junior curling programs. The Sudbury Curling Club’s youth program has grown so much over the past few years that it has started offering two different session times to accommodate all the kids. We are happy to be part of the Rocks & Rings program and growing youth curling throughout the Sudbury area.