COLLEGE CURLING By Gordon Maclean, Chairman, College Curling Committee
Keys for longterm college curling success T
his is the third in a series of articles that concentrate on how to start up a college curling program at your school and potentially earn an invitation to the USA Curling College Championship. In the first article we explored what is required for students to be eligible
to participate in the championship and the qualifying events that lead up to it. In the second article on Page 6 of this edition we looked at the first three
of the five key elements for a successful college curling program. In this final article, we will look at how points three, four, and five on that list are essential to the longterm success of a college curling program. Te careful reader will notice that point number three, regarding an in-
terested faculty/staff advisor, is important to both the start-up and the long term success of a college curling program. Te faculty/staff advisor is criti- cal to help the students navigate the paperwork involved to be recognized as a club sport on campus. Obtaining club status is highly encouraged. Tere are many advantages to being recognized as an on-campus club, including added student body exposure to curling activities and access to student or- ganization funds that may help defray the costs of curling activities. Te faculty/staff advisor can also help with on-campus recruiting, club
budgeting and perhaps most importantly, act as the club’s institutional memory. Te biggest danger for any college curling club is that many successful
college curling start-ups eventually fail because of the “hyper-leader,” the cult figure. We had an individual like this several years ago at the school I was associated with, Michigan Tech. He was amazingly charismatic and MTUCC membership exploded. He also did all of the work required to keep the organization in good standing with the university. Ten, unexpectedly, he dropped out of school. Just as quickly as the MTUCC membership ex- ploded, it crashed. None of the remaining student members knew what was required of them, and their faculty advisor at the time was indifferent and not a curler. It took several years to pick up the pieces. “It will also be a tricky transition when I graduate in spring 2016. I’ve been
working with a great group of individuals who will hopefully carry on the tradition and spirit of curling long aſter I leave, but the reason Yale curling collapsed previously was because of the graduation of one very enthusiastic member.” – Kelsey Schuder, president, Yale Curling Club Te faculty/staff advisor is very important when this situation arises as
they, usually, transcend the short time that most students are involved with college club programs. “Clubs must pay attention to recruiting new members and grooming fu-
ture club officers. Clubs that fail to do this are at risk of failing. A faculty/staff liaison can be very helpful here.” – Roger Rowlett, faculty advisor, Colgate Curling Club Ultimately, college curling programs have as much to gain by actively
recruiting new members as they do by being good on the ice. Anything that gets new or experienced curlers on ice will help with that. Which brings us to points four and five.
Academic reason to curl Almost every successful longterm college curling program will require
an educational component. “Mary Jane Walsh and I both work at Colgate, and also happened to be our club curling school instructors, so we ran the college curling sessions on
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Sundays (two hours) and served as faculty liaisons and familiar faces for stu- dents.” – Roger Rowlett, faculty advisor, Colgate Curling Club Te next logical extension would be to bring these sessions under the
academic umbrella. One draw that brings in new student members is the opportunity to earn a physical education (PE) credit for curling. Depend- ing on the cooperation of the college’s Physical Education Department, this arrangement can be simple. At Michigan Tech University (MTU) we had an arrangement where the student would sign up for a PE Special Topics course and pay the tuition fee for that credit as they normally would. Te student may become a member of the MTUCC (and by extension, the local club the regional association and the USCA). Te student then attends regular weekly curling sessions, whether on the traditional community club league nights or with the MTUCC-only night. Instruction was provided by a US- CA-certified instructor in a couple special classroom sessions. Aſter that, the students earn their credit by simply logging their time. Extracurricular draw to bring in new curlers
Any campus event that can be extended to the curling ice should be ex-
plored. Te biggest event that brings in new student curlers was making curling part of the Michigan Tech University Winter Carnival. Tis annual Continued on next page
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