Boost for young curlers

Monday 18 September 2000

Members of the Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire regional junior curling squads will hold their first lottery funded training session of the season at Hamilton Ice Rink this weekend.

Part funded by sportscotland Lottery Fund’s Regional Junior Squad Programme, the sessions will allow youngsters to receive the benefits of top quality coaching, sport science support and use of training facilities four times a season.  Each of the sessions will cover warming up and cooling down, delivery analysis, communication, timing, sweeping technique, tactics, rules and etiquette, fitness, mental preparation and nutrition.

sportscotland Lottery Fund is contributing £40,000 to the programme which will help to set up a regional and national structure to act as a feeder system to the senior level.

Cate Brewster, Technical Director, Royal Caledonian Curling Club, said:  “The new sportscotland lottery funding will bring more specific and technical knowledge to our athletes at a younger age and I am looking forward to seeing this produce more medal hopefuls.

“Scotland has already had success at both junior and senior level, winning golds at the 1995 and 1996 World Junior Championships and silver at the 1997 junior championships and at the 1999 World Senior Championships.  This programme can only help our efforts to remain at the forefront of international curling.

Ian Robson, sportscotland’s Chief Executive, said:  “We are committed to helping develop Scotland’s stars of the future.  Sport 21, our blueprint for the new millennium, sets out a vision of Scotland as a country where sporting talent is recognised and nurtured.

“The Junior Groups programme allows us to achieve this by giving youngsters such as these a platform from which they can build and ultimately maintain Scotland’s excellent standing on the world curling stage.”