Upcoming changes to the Canadian junior curling championships are facing resistance as some young curlers lament losing a year of eligibility to play in it.
Curling Canada announced last October it will shift the national junior championship starting in 2021 from January to March B次元官网网址� which is after the world junior championship B次元官网网址� and make it an under-20 competition instead of the current under-21 event.
An online petition criticizing the move launched in January and almost 5,000 have signed.
The national governing body of curling has since introduced a three-year transitional phase ending in 2023 during which teams can carry one 21-year-old, or an B次元官网网址渙verage.B次元官网网址�
READ MORE:
That athlete would be too old, however, to play for Canada in the world junior championship the following calendar year.
Using this yearB次元官网网址檚 Canadian junior championship in Prince Albert, Sask., as a an example, 16 curlers, or 13 per cent of the field, were 21.
Three-quarters of Team Ontario was 21 as were the seconds for champions Tyler Tardi and Selena Sturmay.
B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Tardi and AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 Sturmay are representing Canada at the world junior championship starting Saturday in Liverpool, N.S.
In SaskatchewanB次元官网网址檚 three junior qualification bonspiels in September, six per cent of a total 196 participants were 21 at that time.
Calgary curler Lisa Parent, who turns 19 this year, wrote the petition. She will age out of juniors a year earlier unless she joins a team as an overage for the 2020-21 season.
B次元官网网址淒efinitely the biggest issue for me was how quickly they announced the change and how, in my first year of junior, they were taking away my last year,B次元官网网址� Parent told The Canadian Press.
B次元官网网址淚n juniors, youB次元官网网址檒l plan a three-year schedule to peak while youB次元官网网址檙e 21. I know Curling Canada has been saying itB次元官网网址檚 only a year, but thatB次元官网网址檚 what weB次元官网网址檝e been building for since we were little kids.B次元官网网址�
A national junior championship in late March conflicts with exam preparation for university students, which many competitive junior curlers are.
B次元官网网址淭aking a full course load and preparing for Canadian juniors would most definitely impact my grades in my final exams,B次元官网网址� Parent said.
And at an age where the increasing demands of school and life can cause young curlers to take a hiatus from the sport, or drop it altogether, some may now bail earlier, she said.
Curling CanadaB次元官网网址檚 rationale for the alteration is the competitive season for the majority of junior curlers is over the first week of January, when each province and territory concludes its junior playdowns.
Curling clubs have ice for another three months.
Under the new format, the number of teams in the Canadian junior championship in March will increase from 24 to 36.
In addition, the national under-18 championship will shift from April to February and increase from 24 to 48 teams. That gives juvenile teams a chance to also qualify for juniors.
READ MORE:
So the countryB次元官网网址檚 youth curlers will have both a longer competitive season and more chances to experience playing in a major event, says Nolan Thiessen, Curling CanadaB次元官网网址檚 manager of championship services and athlete liaison.
B次元官网网址淣ow weB次元官网网址檝e created a five- to six-month calendar where the athletes are engaged,B次元官网网址� he explained.
B次元官网网址淭hey can set out a five-month training, competition, rest-and-recovery as well as school-work schedule over a five-month period as a opposed to a three-month rush to try to win their provincials.
B次元官网网址淚t wasnB次元官网网址檛 about the two Team Canadas. It was about trying to create an infrastructure for real growth and development across the country over a longer period of time.B次元官网网址�
Four-time world champion David Nedohin, who coaches a juvenile team, was among those who signed the petition.
He says he understands Curling CanadaB次元官网网址檚 reasoning, but points out the competitive gap between junior and menB次元官网网址檚 and womenB次元官网网址檚 competition is so much larger now than when his Randy Ferbey team recruited Carter Rycroft and Scott Pfeiffer right out of junior.
The stakes in curling have never been higher with the Olympic Games and thousands of dollars in World Curling Tour prize money and sponsorships.
ItB次元官网网址檚 becoming almost impossible for a junior graduate to apprentice with a top team, he said.
B次元官网网址淎 four-year cycle ends and all of those top players go into the blender, the blender turns on and they spit out new teams,B次元官网网址� Nedohin said.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 no new curlers that get involved with the top-level teams because no one is willing to take a risk on a player for four years that they donB次元官网网址檛 know.
B次元官网网址淲e have a major decline in competitive curlers coming out of juniors and going into menB次元官网网址檚 and ladies because of that gap that exists.B次元官网网址�
A longer period of junior eligibility helps bridge the gap, Nedohin said.
B次元官网网址淚t makes sense what (Curling Canada) is saying, but it would be nice if you could find a way to at least consider the impact it might be having on some of these players trying to make that bridge into competitive menB次元官网网址檚 or ladies,B次元官网网址� Nedohin said.
B次元官网网址淩ight now, itB次元官网网址檚 already hard enough. Backing it off another year, thatB次元官网网址檚 just one more year to me that you have less opportunity to be successful before you get thrown to the wolves.B次元官网网址�
Thiessen and Curling CanadaB次元官网网址檚 youth manager Helen Radford say the decision to tinker with junior curling came from an operations advisory council consisting of executive directors from the provincial and territorial associations.
B次元官网网址淭hey wanted Curling Canada to take a look at the competition calendar because it was not working well for junior athletes,B次元官网网址� Radford said.
B次元官网网址淲e understand people are focused on certain parts of the changes, but itB次元官网网址檚 important for people to see all of the changes that weB次元官网网址檙e making and why weB次元官网网址檙e making them.
B次元官网网址淲hen we look at the number of athletes it would affect, it would be so minimal.B次元官网网址�
For the overage curlers on the menB次元官网网址檚 and womenB次元官网网址檚 Canadian championship teams, who would be too old to play in the world juniors, Curling Canada would still send them with their team to experience some of it.
B次元官网网址淚 would hope that they would still be pretty excited to win a Canadian championship and still get to go to the world championships even though they wouldnB次元官网网址檛 be able to play,B次元官网网址� Thiessen said.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
Like us on and follow us on .
