The WORLD CURLING FEDERATION (WCF)
and The GERMAN CURLING ASSOCIATION (DCV)

Special Curling Courses / Seminars and the 5th annual Junior Summer Curling Camp

Between July 7-20, 2003 the World Curling Federation and the German Curling Association (especially Füssen CC) worked hand-in-hand to host special curling seminars and the 5th Annual Junior Summer Curling Camp in Füssen, Germany. This event showcased all the courses that the WCF is currently geared to host, and culminated in a five-day Camp for juniors.

The result was an unparalleled success as 258 participants attended the courses and 117 juniors were at the Camp. The 21 countries involved included Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, England, Wales, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Andorra, Canada, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Japan, Korea and the USA.

The Level I (30 participants) and a Level II (33) Ice Technician Courses were taught by Sweden’s Leif Öhman and Canada’s Hans Wuthrich. The Level I (25) and Level II (26) Umpire/Official Courses were taught by Leslie Ingram-Brown from Scotland and Hans Uli Sommer from Switzerland. The Level I (42) and Level II (38) Technical Instructor Courses were instructed by Al Kersey and Bertha Washer from Canada. The Business of Curling Seminar (19) was taught by Canada’s Danny Lamoureux, the Youth Curling Seminar (13) by Dieter Kolb of Germany, and the new Wheelchair Curling Coaching Course (32) was run by Scotland’s Kate Caithness, Ena Stevenson and wheelchair athlete Frank Duffy.

Al and Bertha stayed on to instruct at the Junior Camp and were joined by fellow Canadians Wendy Morgan, Anne O’Hearn and Dick Henderson. Gesa Angrick from Germany filled out the Camp’s instructional staff. Also, at the Camp were twelve highly qualified assistant-instructors coming from Canada (Melanie and Sebastien Robillard, and Phil Sager), Scotland (Gordon Kennedy and Alan Hannah), Andorra (Ana and Andrew Ferguson-Smith), Sweden (Patric Hakansson), Germany (Andreas Lang, Daniela Jentsch and Josy Obermann) and from the Netherlands (Rob Vilain).

The instructors and assistants for all the courses and the Camp did a marvellous job. They all openly shared their expertise and experience, and a special thank you goes out to all of them.

It was wonderful to see so many nationalities enjoying themselves and working together for the betterment of curling. The positive response from everyone involved confirms that this is indeed a worthwhile project. Plans are already underway for a similar event next summer. All the information and the registration forms will be available on the WCF website (www.worldcurling.org) on December 15, 2003.

Keith Wendorf
WCF Curling Development Officer

2003-09-17

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