In the autumn of 2003 I started to work for the Jeti ice arena. At that time it was possible in Jeti to skate and play hockey and my first thought was: why don't we play curling here. Although Estonian Curling Association (ECA, www.curling.ee) was founded in 2002, we had two sets of stones bought from Finland and we had our self-made brushes.
I can't say that we really knew about the game of curling. I personally wanted to know more. That's why I organized early 2004 trips to Latvia (Jelgava) and Finland (Oulunkylä) where I saw that “weird” game first time live. I remember latvians even gave us metallic hacks for free - probably to destroy our stones. :)
Back home the first Estonian championships were held in spring 2004 – nobody really knew the tactics or last stone advantage. The most important tactic was to get your stones starting from the first one to the bullseye. I even remember discussion about weather the stone on the hogline is in or out – as we did not know the rules, we went to internet and checked the Finnish curling site for the truth.
Summer 2004 I had a chance to visit Füssen where I met Keith Wendorf and Richard “the stoneman” Harding from WCF. As in Jeti there was enough space to build two stationary curling sheets, my aim was to apply for a loan. Mr. Harding visited Tallinn in the autumn of 2004 and by December 2004 the first stationary curling sheets were opened by Estonian Olympic Committee president and Markku Uusipaavalniemi.
With the building of stationary sheets we also received four sets of stones and an Ice Boss. In my mind it is not possible to develop curling without stationary ice – fortunately the quick decision making and financial help from WCF made the stationary ice possible for Estonians.
As I look now back to last five years - after opening the curling sheets - I would call that an era of learning. To be more precise – it has been a learning by doing process. Not only players have become more and more aware of the game, but this period has been a learning process also for the Estonian Curling Association - we have introduced different tournament systems at the championships, we have dealt with the citizenship problems that concern representing Estonia, for few years we were preparing to launch the first Estonian curling book, we were part of starting several international projects (Baltic Cup and Estonia vs Latvia friendly), Estonian Olympic Committee started to financially support curling, raise in the awarness of curling in Estonia, funding teams representing Estonia etc.
As member of board at ECA I could say we have now stable curling calendar with suitable events for everybody from high level to starters, Estonia is represented in all categories at European championships, we have our own curling book. But I am not satisfied, I want more. The next big steps concern coaching (to import the “brains” and to educate our own future coaches) and bringing in more juniors.
Unfortunately the economic recession hit also Estonian economy and our Olympic Committee cut the financial support, so how we could go further? The most important thing is to be positive and even under these circumstances there is a solution - we just have to discover it!
PS. On behalf of Estonian curling community I want to thank Finnish curling players for attending Tallinn Cup (it is indeed a very effective learning process for us) and personally I want to thank Olli Rissanen and Markku Uusipaavalniemi for their help in developing Estonian curling.
Estonian Curling at the glance
2004 – first Estonian Championships in curling, opening of two stationary curling sheets, Estonian men first time at European Championships (ECC), membership status in WCF, ECF and Estonian Olympic Committee
2005 – women first time at the ECC, international curling tournament Tallinn Cup was played first time, founding of Baltic Cup with Latvian counterparts
2007 – Estonia vs Latvia friendly was introduced (after three years latvians leading 2:1), Estonian juniors (men) first time in EJCC
2009 – First curling handbook in Estonian was introduced
2010 – Estonian junior women team played first time at EJCC
Fred Randver
Secretary General at ECA, 2004-2005
Board member of ECA, 2005 – today
Founder of international curling tournament “Tallinn Cup”
With this text I am not representing Estonian Curling Association, these are my own personal thoughts.
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