By: Nolan Thiessen, Chief Executive Officer, Curling Canada
The purpose of curling has not changed. We have talked about how we still exist to bring people together, to challenge one another, to strengthen communities, to pursue excellence, and to leave the sport stronger than we found it. Chapter 2 talked about that extensively.
But the conditions in which we deliver on that purpose have changed dramatically and Chapter 3 discussed the uncomfortable truth that is our current reality and how that is making those conditions harder to manage.
That realization should not discourage us, because once we recognize that the conditions have changed, we gain permission to ask a far more exciting question.
If we were building Canadian curling today, knowing everything we now know about communities, funding partners, participants, technology, leadership and what Canada is, how would we build it? How would it look different than today?
Not because the past was wrong. we gain permission Instead, because tomorrow might need a software update. ask a far more exciting question.
Chapter four
The Four Critical Shifts
The future will not be built by doing more. It will be built by thinking differently.
As I have travelled across Canada, one observation has remained remarkably consistent.
Whether the conversation takes place in a two-sheet club, or at a major championship or around the boardroom table, people aren’t arguing about where they want curling to go.
Healthy clubs and updated facilities. More people curling. Canada winning medals.
Community building. Financial sustainability. Meaningful partnerships. Athletic excellence.
These aspirations are almost universal. The disagreement, when it exists, is rarely about the destination.
It is about the route to get there. And that’s OK. If there were one magic fix, we’d all have done it already. Nobody is saying curling should JUST be high performance or curling should JUST be recreational. Canadians want both. Curlers want both. But all this means our challenge isn’t about vision. It’s about alignment.
The Three-Legged Stool
Earlier in this series, we introduced the idea that a healthy curling system rests upon three essential areas of focus: people, systems and facilities.
When all three are strong, the sport is stable. When one weakens, the entire system begins to wobble like a three-legged stool that has one compromised leg. We’re getting close to where the system is unstable and each leg needs attention.
We have celebrated passionate people while asking them to compensate for aging facilities.
We have stop-gap invested in facilities without making structural changes to modernize the underlying systems required to support them.
We have created excellent programs without ensuring the people responsible for delivering them have the capacity to succeed and deliver.
None of those decisions was made with poor intentions or were the wrong decisions at the time. Most were made because they solved the immediate challenge in front of us.
The future asks something different and it will ask us to strengthen all three together, simultaneously, so we don’t wobble. Facilities provide places where curling happens, but the buildings alone are not sustainable without people to run it. People bring the facility to life, but they need support through governance, ideas, programs, education and technology to do that. Systems connect those people and facilities and enable success through fast communication and a clear understanding of an aligned vision for future success. All three need each other as without one the other two are moot points.
So, shouldn’t every significant decision we make over the next decade then ask these three questions?
Does this make our people more capable?
Does this align and improve our systems?
Does this strengthen the places where curling comes to life?
If the answer is yes, it’s probably worth our time.
The Four Critical Shifts
When someone begins to examine The Future of Canadian Curling, I believe there are hundreds of directions to go. In my first years working for Curling Canada, and then most recently as CEO I’ve thought of so many different ideas for improvement and had many shared with me. However, over time, I’ve noticed those conversations keep funnelling into four buckets, and change requires four small fundamental shifts before any action takes place.
Not four projects or individual programs.
Not four strategic priorities.
Instead, four critical shifts in thinking that have the potential to reshape every decision we make and create a more aligned system toward mutual success.
Each one challenges an assumption that has quietly guided our sport well in the past but may not best guide us in the future. Each one challenges us to be better for the future not just to re-create the past.
Together, they create a different vision for The Future of Canadian Curling.
Grassroots Development
For generations we have asked, “how do we keep curling affordable?”
It is an understandable question. Affordability has always been one of curling’s strengths, and protecting access to the sport through affordability remains critically important throughout the Canadian sport system. We don’t want affordability to be a barrier.
But affordability alone has never inspired someone to fall in love with curling. Nobody has ever said, “I only love curling because it’s cheap to play.”
People return because of the experience. They return because they laughed. Because they improved. Because they made friends. Because they felt welcome. Because they belonged. Because they felt at home.
The question for the future is not whether curling should remain accessible through affordability because of course it should. But the better question is:
How do we create experiences so meaningful that people recognize the value of being part of them?
Affordable experiences matter. Valuable experiences endure.
High-Performance Development
For many years we have assumed that through our playdown process that the cream will rise to the top, and for the most part, it did. We’ve had such volume of talent in Canada that it was enough. We wanted it more; it meant more to us. Our competitions naturally produce better athletes. I was part of that storied lineage and was fortunate to rise to the top of it.
Don’t get me wrong, competition and competitive IQ matter. It reveals character. It finds the weakness you’ve been trying to hide as a team and exposes it. It tests preparation. When competition is done exceptionally well it creates iconic events that can also inspire future excellence.
But the competition alone has never created champions. The events aren’t the strategy.
Champions are created by discipline. Champions are created through the environments they experience every single day. The competition that they win the title in is just where you see the result of all the work that was put in. It’s a delicate balance because championships matter and they are the carrot for all the hard work, but they alone do not create the champion.
Muhammad Ali’s quote says it best: “The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road; long before I dance under those lights.”
Historically, Canadian curling teams are always looking for another event to play in. “How can we play in another bonspiel or National Championship. That experience is what I need!”
Teams look to compete in all levels and all disciplines in the same year. We always say, “We need another event to … get better.” However, the future of Canadian high performance will not be defined simply by the number of games our athletes play.
We need to make a critical shift from:
More competitive experiences will create champions.
To
Better training environments will create champions.
A highly effective High-Performance system has exceptional coaching, integrated sport science, world-class facilities and tools, a strong culture pushing each other to new heights, meaningful collaboration, psychological safety, willingness to learn, intellectual curiosity, accountability to oneself, accountability to teammates, to coaches, to friends, to family and the system they represent. Excellence from attention to detail of the minute and the journey of improvement, not just the number of events that an athlete plays in. We will always have championship events to test that training, to inspire and entertain fans; however, the competition alone is not our High-Performance system.
System Development
Perhaps no shift is more important than this one because it’s how we all work together for the common good.
For decades, every part of our sport system has worked tirelessly to succeed.
Clubs have worked to strengthen their communities and service their members. Provincial and territorial organizations have worked to serve their member clubs and better the game. Curling Canada has worked to provide leadership, direction, inspiration and support.
Each has pursued success with dedication and the best intentions. But success at one level cannot come at the expense of another and the future requires something more interconnected.
The question changes from:
“How does my organization succeed?”
to
“How does the curling system succeed together?”
When curlers have amazing experiences, they return to the clubs and the clubs thrive. When clubs thrive, their provincial and territorial organizations become stronger and more resourced. When those organizations are stronger, Curling in Canada grows and succeeds and can provide more support. And when the national system grows, opportunity returns to every community in Canada.
But shared success is not idealism; it is thinking about systems. We see this in the recent Future in Sport Commission report from the Government of Canada. It highlights that fragmented systems have led to failures and lack of shared direction.
We have the opportunity to be a leader in systems development and share a vision for the future of a stronger curling system.
Events
For decades, one of the simplest measures of success in curling was that “the playdowns were full.” If championship events were happening, the system was assumed to be healthy.
Today, many organizations still invest enormous amounts of time delivering championships. Venues are booked. Competition schedules are built. Volunteers are recruited. Budgets are balanced. Competitor guides are written. Hosts are supported. These are all essential responsibilities, and delivering a quality championship will always matter for curling.
But somewhere along the way, many events became the destination instead of the vehicle.
The purpose of a championship is not simply to crown another winner. It is to advance the entire curling system.
A great championship should inspire new participants, strengthen clubs, develop coaches and officials, create opportunities for leaders, attract partners, showcase communities, generate economic impact, and tell the stories that make people want to belong to our sport. Every event should leave curling stronger than it found it.
If our championships only determine who moves on to the next level of competition, we are missing much of their potential.
This requires a fundamental shift in how we think about events.
The question is no longer:
“How many events can we run?”
The question becomes:
“How can the events best advance the entire curling system?”
When viewed through that lens, every championship should contribute to the three foundations of a healthy sport: People, Systems, and Facilities.
Some events will become more important because of the impact they create beyond the competition itself. Others may need to evolve or even make way for something different if they no longer strengthen the system in meaningful ways.
Championships should never exist simply because they always have. They should exist because they move curling forward.
The Sum of Their Parts
At first glance, these four shifts may appear independent, but they’re not. They’re intertwined and they reinforce one another.
A stronger grassroots experience develops more people to play and to lead. Better high-performance environments inspire excellence and aspiration. A more connected system shares knowledge, capacity and resources. Transformative events create visibility, pride and opportunity.
Together they strengthen the people who make curling possible, the systems that allow it to flourish and the facilities that bring communities together.
This is not a collection of initiatives. It is a new way of seeing curling, communicating our value and fostering the future we want to leave.
The following chapters will explore each of these shifts in greater depth.
They will challenge assumptions and ask difficult questions. They will undoubtedly make some readers uncomfortable, and that’s OK as every meaningful transformation begins with a willingness to think differently and be uncomfortable.
Not because what came before was wrong. But because every generation inherits a different set of responsibilities and circumstances.
Our responsibility is not to wish for yesterday's conditions. It’s to read today's conditions well enough and make the changes necessary that future generations can continue to enjoy the game we all love.
Reflection
Before moving into the next chapter, consider these questions:
- Which of these four shifts feels most urgent?
- Where are we still solving today’s problems with yesterday’s assumptions?
- Which decisions strengthen only one leg of the stool, and which strengthen all three?
- If we embraced these four shifts completely, what would people notice first?
- When future generations look back on this era of curling, will they see a system that reacted to change—or one that had the courage to lead it?
In Chapter 5 we will start with grassroots and expand on how we can create experiences that people value.
The future of Canadian curling podcast - Episode 4
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