Näin lajia uudistetaan Kanadassa:

A new twist to an old game

By David Laing

The Springbank Curling Club just outside Calgary, Alberta has come up with an innovative new way to promote the game of curling. They are the first Curling Club in Canada to offer authentic and realistic black light curling.
 
The idea was set in motion by Mark Phillips the club’s operations supervisor, and Susan Thornton, the special events coordinator. They were trying to figure out a way to spice up the game for outsiders new to the sport. “Curling can sometimes be a little boring for people that aren’t really in to it. We thought that (we would) put something else out there that people could try and enjoy it.” Said Thornton
 
In order for Black Light Curling to work properly, you need special lighting that provides black light illumination and florescent colours painted into the curling sheet. “The initial install went fairly well, we had limited paint colours at that time, but we thought it went very well.” Said Thornton. “Everybody has been quite excited; it’s a new twist on curling.” The club also offers rocks, brooms, and a scoreboard that light up to enhance the experience.
 
“It took a little over a year. Because we didn’t know how high we had to put the lights or how far it would glow sideways. I had no idea; we were doing it for the first time.” Said Mark Phillips.
 
They started testing the black light curling last March with Phillips initial inspiration in mind. “I was listening to some curlers talk about this glow stick curling thing. Where they break a glow stick and put it on their broom then put one on the rock. I thought that was pretty lame. We did some trials last year with some fluorescent paints and got a couple black lights. Right at the end of the year we tried it on the ice and it looked like it would work.” Phillips recalls.
 
But the main goal of the black light curling is attracting a younger crowd to the rink. “We wanted to try something here to bring more junior curlers in. Because there haven’t been any innovative ideas, there have been lots of administrative stuff, but there’s nothing to really bring the kids in.” Said Phillips
 
Since its inception, black light curling has had a warm reception from curlers and other clubs, but Thornton sees bigger things on the horizon. “Possibly next year we’re looking at adding more sheets with the black light, and maybe at one point having a black light curling league.” Phillips, on the other hand is more confident with where he expects the direction of black light curling to go. “I guarantee that you will see a few other clubs doing this by next year.”