The Ontario Curling Council (OCC) and its members, the Ontario Curling Association (OCA) and the Northern Ontario Curling Association (NOCA) are thrilled to announce that they are recipients of the Ministry of Tourism Culture and Sport’s – Ontario Sport and Recreation Communities Fund.
See the announcement here: OSRCF – Provincial Project Announcements
Our two year project is focused on growing the sport of curling with our curling clubs, through optimal use of the Curling Canada’s highly successful Adult Learn to Curl Program. Our plan is to train approximately 20 Instructor Trainers, who will run 12-15 Regional Training sessions for 75-100 clubs to send at least two club instructors/Membership Developers to. We will teach these people the optimal way to run a Learn to Curl Program at the same time working with the clubs to develop the business model to support the program. We want 100 Adult Learn to Curl Leagues running with instructors who have been trained through this program. There are also some exciting variations of the program that are part of the project, a Learn to Curl League for New Canadians – conducted in Mandarin and Punjabi, a Learn to Curl League for Aboriginal Families and Learn to Curl League for Women 55+.
“Believe it or not, the Adult Learn to Curl Program is not being used by all clubs across the province, we know its a proven way to recruit and retain new people to the game. This project will help curling clubs leverage this really successful program, will train a network of club instructors and will help clubs develop a strong business model,” – Jennifer Ferris, Manager – Programs and Operations.
The Ontario Curling Association (OCA) and the Northern Ontario Curling Association (NOCA) have made a sizable commitment to support this project so that the Ontario Curling Council can reach all areas of the province with this project – this is a direct response to their member clubs’ request for assistance in helping attract new members to their clubs. “This program will directly help clubs retain members, clubs simply CANNOT afford not to participate in this program, the NOCA feels like this is a great opportunity to grow the sport and we’re happy to work with our partners OCC and OCA to do this.” – Leslie Kerr, Executive Director, Northern Ontario Curling Association.
The project will be coordinated by OCC Project Coordinator – Byron Scott. Byron is currently seeking host clubs in specified regions for Membership Developer Workshops. As well, clubs who prioritized an Adult Learn to Curl as a club initiative on a recent OCA/NOCA/OCC Survey will be contacted directly about how to get started with the project. Don’t wait for a call, if your club wants to host a training, send instructors to a training, get started on growing their club membership – contact Byron Scott today at bscott@ontcurl.com.
PROJECT GOALS
- 24 Qualified “Instructor Trainers” (regionally dispersed)
- 150 Trained “Membership Developers”/Club Instructors
- 75-100 Adult Learn to Curl Programs in place and operating over a two year period
- Capture more metrics surrounding the success of the program
- 2200 new curlers “converted” into new curling members
More information about the Adult Learn to Curl Program can be found here.
A complete list of OSRCF grant recipients can be found here.
MTCS News Announcement: OSRCF – Announcements
