Youth Curling

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROGRAMME Thirty-two students, from Grades three through eight, curl every Thursday (except PA days and snow days and Christmas holidays) from the beginning of November until the week before March Break. The students walk to the club from Archie Stouffer Elementary School and a few curlers come from JD Hodgson Elementary School ( French Immersion Program). They have a healthy snack, do stretches and go onto the ice from 4 pm until 5:30 pm. There are 3 bonspiels - at the beginning of the season, at Christmas, and on the final afternoon. No equipment is required except clean running shoes as the Club loans them brooms, sliders and grippers.  There are at least 7 adult coaches on the ice with the curlers, as well as a high school curler who comes out to help. In the fall, curling skills are emphasized. After Christmas, everyone is put on a team and points are earned in a house league system. On the final afternoon of curling, medals are given to the 12 curlers with the highest points. The top 4 students also have their names put on the 'Juniors Rock' trophy, an antique wooden curling stone donated by Barb & Vern Gillespie. Chocolate bars are sold by the youth curlers as a fund raiser for their league and for the experienced youth curlers who enter the Timbits Provincial Elementary School Curling Championship. The Minden club traditionally enters two or three teams into the Timbits Tournament. These curlers are usually in Grades seven or eight and have curled in the youth league for several years. They have demonstrated good curling skills, teamwork and maturity. Since they also represent their school, they must be in good standing at school. Once these curlers have been identified, they practice Tuesdays after school, until 5 pm, and one or more of the coaches accompany them to the Timbits Bonspiel. Ontario Elementary School Provincial Champions = Timbits Bonspiel at Parry Sound – Apr. 12 to 15, 2011 This year, several of our curlers will be entering the OCA Bantam Zones. Minden will once again be holding a bonspiel for Elementay School children: The Goldline Elementary School Bonspiel on Sunday March 4, 2012.

HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMME The nine girls on the Haliburton Highlands Secondary School curling teams practice with their coaches every Tuesday afternoon and seven of the girls play on Monday evenings with the Ladies' League, either as regular team members or as spares.  The two teams will enter the Gore Mutual Competition and the 'A' team will enter the OCA Bantam and Junior Zones, as well as representing their school in the high school competitions. There are not enough male curlers at the high school this year to form a team but one boy is playing on a team in the Men's League on Tuesday evenings.