Wheelchair Curling Rocks!

The first time Laughie Rutt wheeled into the Lakeshore Curling Club in Lower Sackville, N.S., to try wheelchair curling, he was daunted by the length of the ice sheet and the weight of the granite rocks.

"I've been in a wheelchair since I was really young, but I had never, ever been into a curling rink," says Rutt. "I looked down the ice and it looked about 10 miles long. I said, "These rocks are supposed to be heavy. I'm only a little guy; I'm not going to be able to do this.'"

Rutt, and some other members of the Canadian Paraplegic Association (Nova Scotia) who were new curlers, worked with a coach, and by the end of their first session, they could all get the rocks, each about 19 kilograms, down the 45-metre ice sheet using delivery sticks, which are long sticks with a bracket on the end. By the end of the season, their numbers had doubled from four to eight and they were beating curlers without disabilities.

Bystanders at the club were amazed to see the wheelchair curlers. "We heard both positive and negative comments," says Rutt. "Some said, 'Wow, I didn't realize people in wheelchairs actually curled!' Others assumed we couldn't be using regular rocks."

Rutt has been playing weekly at the club for the last year and says the sport is very addictive. "You can hardly wait," he says. "You want to do it again and get better. It becomes a sort of passion."

Certainly, others feel the same way. Wheelchair curling, developed by the Swiss Curling Association in 1998, is being called the fastest-growing wheelchair sport in the world, and Canada is taking the lead. While there are an estimated 400 players in 36 countries, 250 of them are in Canada, and our national team won gold at the Paralympic Games in Turin, Italy, last winter - the first time the sport was included.

In February, the team, led by skip Chris Daw, will head back to Europe for the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Solleftea, Sweden, as defending Paralympic champions. They will be vying for gold along with nine other countries that are registered on the international circuit.

Daw, who trains at both Ilderton Curling Club and Highland Curling Club in London, Ont., says wheelchair curling has just a few differences from regular curling. Like the original game, there are four people on each team, including a skip, third, second and lead.

Wheelchair curling requires all teams to have both male and female players. Team members take turns throwing a total of 16 polished rocks from behind the "hogline" at one end of the ice to the "house," or scoring area, at the other end. The game consists of six ends, rather than 10 as in original curling.

The goal is to have more rocks closer to the button, or centre of the house, than your opponents do. Your team receives one point for each rock.

"Obviously, you have to play it from a wheelchair in a stationary position," says Daw. "Standing back from the hogline simulates a slide delivery. You can use a stick or a hand-to-rock delivery."

One of the biggest rule changes is that there is absolutely no sweeping allowed. Because of this, says Daw, wheelchair curlers have to be perfect with their weight and line in order to be successful. "This is why wheelchair curlers are known as the best weight and line deliverers in the world. No sweeping also means that part of your rock must be touching the centre line at the beginning of delivery. That makes it that much harder. That's why we're great players."

No sweeping also means that wheelchair curling is non-aerobic - curlers can get chilly!

Enthusiastic players like Kelowna, B.C.'s Eric Eales just bundle up a little more. "It's great for winter recreation because it's a collegial, friendly and social game and can be played at all sorts of different levels."

Eales first tried curling in 2003 on a "Give It A Go" day offered by Curl B.C. at the Kelowna Curling Club and was quickly hooked on the sport. His website, www.wheelchaircurling.com, is a comprehensive source of information for wheelchair curlers worldwide.

Eales says he'd like to see more wheelchair users try curling, but not many clubs in Canada offer it because they don't see the need. "It's the chicken and egg situation," he says. "Clubs say, 'Why should I put in a ramp? Why should I appeal to wheelchair curlers? There aren't any.' And wheelchair curlers say, 'Well, where would I play? The ice isn't accessible.'"

Eales says curling associations will expand their services if people express their interest.

"There's no reason at all why wheelchair curlers can't play with non-disabled curlers," he says. "In fact, you're much better off trying to get a program going if you start integrating wheelchair curlers with regular curlers rather than try to get a whole lot of wheelchair curlers together at a regular time. There's no reason a person who's in a wheelchair who has the upper body strength to push a rock can't go on and join a fun league. Once more people come out and see wheelchair curlers, that will encourage others."

Eales says curling clubs could welcome potential wheelchair curlers in one of two ways.

"To start, they could make their ice accessible by building a ramp. That's extremely inexpensive and they could probably get a club member to do it." Another way would be to keep one or two delivery sticks on hand. "A lot of seniors are already using them," says Eales.

Curling is a relatively inexpensive sport. Delivery sticks, available for purchase at curling stores and clubs, range in price from about $65 to $160. The cost of ice time varies by curling club and frequency of play. You can rent a sheet for an afternoon, or join a league for a few hundred dollars a year.

Players can use their regular wheelchairs. Elite players may want to invest in a special chair to get an advantage. Daw's curling wheelchair is made of titanium and cost $25,000. Designed by RGK Wheelchair Inc., it's the world's first curling chair.

"You don't need it," says Daw, "but it's smaller and its technological advances allow me to angle it better to make the tougher shots, and it lets me get in amongst the rocks. It's just like an extension of my body."

However serious you become about wheelchair curling, Rutt believes being committed to the sport and having fun is what's important.

"Wheelchair curling presents a lot of opportunity to build character and build relationships, which everybody needs in their life, whether it's with teammates, coaches or opponents," says Rutt. "It also gives people the right impression of people with a disability - that we're full and active citizens in the community."

Melanie Furlong is a freelance writer in Lower Sackville, N.S.