By Jody Jewers, Editor, The Sport Section
It didn’t take long for the Mayflower Curling Club to get back up to speed.
Days after the eight-sheet surface opened in its new location in Timberlea, Nova Scotia, the club hosted the Atlantic version of the Women in Curling Summit, a day-long event that was part of Curling Canada’s national initiative to promote women’s leadership and participation in the sport.
“It was very well received,” says Karen Skiffington, the operations manager at the Mayflower. “Some people came to get technical updates, learn better sweeping techniques, better throwing techniques, things like that and some just came for networking to see what other clubs were doing and what types of ideas and best practices they were generating.
“We had people who were new to the sport and those who had varying degrees of experience, and the big thing we wanted everyone to take away from it was a general consensus of continuing in the sport and encouraging women to join. There is a different skill set and demand on women versus men in the sport, I find, and we wanted to tailor our event around that.”
The club received funding from Sport Nova Scotia’s Sport Fund to support the purchase of equipment for the expansion of its wheelchair and alternative stick curling programs and its learn to curl program, which Skiffington says is a crucial element for its membership.
“The first step is getting people through the door to try the sport,” says Skiffington. “So keeping a learn to curl program low-cost and easily accessible means having that equipment available to them without having to pay $200 or $300 in extra fees. There are a lot of financial demands on people nowadays, so every little bit helps.
“We also have programs in place for people who may be new to the area and for those who have been historically underrepresented in the sport, so that comes with some challenges as well and having that equipment really helps with being in a new community with a more diverse population.”
Founded in 1905, the original Mayflower club was destroyed in the Halifax Explosion of 1917, rebuilt on Agricola Street and then moved to Monaghan Drive in 1962 where it remained for more than 60 years. The new $22-million facility opened in October, with eight sheets of world-class ice used daily by more than 700 members. It offers modern amenities including lounges, a full-service bar, a kitchen and a pro shop. Games are also livestreamed through the club’s YouTube channel.
The club has a history of hosting major events, including the 1995 TSN Skins Game, the 2002 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship and the 2011 Canada Winter Games, and Skiffington says the new venue will be bidding for more big bonspiels following a break-in period.
“We didn’t want to do too much the first year because there are some growing pains,” she says. “We want to make sure everything runs right before we consider hosting some big events, that we can produce a product we like. We’re hosting some provincial events, so that will be a good test for us.”
