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Armstrong happy to be extending curling culture
By Don Fennell - Richmond Review
April 21, 2011
For Leigh Armstrong, curling is as much a lifestyle as it is a game.
Whether playing lead on the vaunted Sherry Middaugh team from Coldwater, Ont., or in her role as chair of the Dominion Curling Club Championship, she’s seldom far removed from the sport.
“I’m in curling clubs all the time talking to members. I think it’s part of why I was chosen to do this job,” said Armstrong, 29.
B.C. teams will attempt to qualify for the Dominion Curling Club Championship at this year’s Pacific International Cup, which is on through Sunday at the Richmond Curling Centre.
Armstrong is as comfortable hanging out at a curling centre as she is curled up with a good book at home. She began curling at the age of seven and has been hooked ever since.
“It’s where all my friends are,” she said, reiterating the friendly, welcoming nature that is common among the curling fraternity.
Her dad, Ken, is a pretty accomplished curler in his own right, coaching Finland at the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 and last year playing on the silver medal winning team at the Canadian senior men’s championships. But Armstrong doesn’t believe her own success—representing Ontario at three junior nationals, playing in six Ontario Scotties tournaments, and winning a Canadian mixed title in 2005 in Whitehorse—is because of any natural talent.
She likes to joke with her dad that he’s living vicariously through her. But she had to learn to lose before she learned how to win.
“I would come home from a weekend event in Bantam or something and be balling my eyes out,” she said. “My mom would say to my dad, ‘Why are you putting her through this?’ and my dad would reply, ‘She’ll get better.’”
“I hate to lose more than I like to win,” she said. “I’m very competitive. (Losing) never gets easy and it affects your confidence. You want to surround yourself with the kind of people that will help you get through those times. There’s no magic wand to have a championship team, you just get on a roll and that builds your confidence.”
As young as she is, Armstrong’s many curling experiences have heightened her insight into the game. Even as one of the elite female players in Canada, she constantly works to improve.
“It’s almost like a chess game and you’re always trying to think about what the other team is going to do,” she said. “I also like how the physical aspect of the sport has evolved. There’s a huge awareness now that if you’re physically fit you’ll do well and that’s giving the game more credibility too.”
Curling’s full recognition as an Olympic sport in 1998 has helped the sport grow internationally, said Armstrong, as have an increasing number of nationally-televised cash spiels. But until recently, one aspect of curling enjoyed little appreciation—club curling.
Though club curlers represent the grassroots and form the foundation of the sport, there was no competition that allowed them to showcase their skills. Then in 1998 a group of curlers, led by Richmond’s Jim Mann, got together and decided to organize a premier tournament.
Initially they created the B.C. Club Challenge with 16 teams from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. But by 2000 interest swelled and the Pacific International Cup was formed, inviting teams from as far as Australia to participate.
In 2009, The Dominion Insurance Company stepped up to sponsor an annual national championship, the third edition of which will be held this November at the Richmond Curling Centre. The top men’s and women’s club teams from each province or territory qualify through their respective playdowns (which in B.C. is through the Pacific International Cup). Six regional playdowns are held around the province to amass eight men’s and eight women’s teams to play in the PIC.
“In my mind having the Dominion Curling Club Championship is probably the most significant change in Canadian curling since the admission of curling into the Olympics as a full-medal sport,” said Mann. “It gives some national credence to some ideas a group of us originated here that long ago, and I consider it an absolute privilege to work with the Dominion on the national championship. I believe this might have eventually happened but probably long past the end of my life if not for the vision, passion and driving support of the Dominion through George Cook, Leigh Armstrong and the whole executive team at the Dominion.”
The success of both the PIC and Dominion is reflected in the growing number of club curlers vying to qualify for the competitions. This year in B.C., 55 per cent of curling centres participated in playdowns for the PIC. The south Island region led the way with 100 per cent buy-in, while in the Lower Mainland it was the high 90 per cent range, said Mann.
“My goal is ultimately reaching 80 per cent province-wide,” he said.
Every curler starts at the club level, said Armstrong. It’s the time commitment, as much as talent, that often determines whether they go further or not.
“It’s the true club curler that keeps the centres open until April every year,” she said. “They’re who really keep curling alive in Canada so we wanted something to give back to them.”
Armstrong said the Dominion Club Curling Championship was modelled largely after the PIC along with Mann’s advice.
“Currently we have about 60 per cent of the curling centres in Canada participating, but my hope is we’ll see almost every one sending a champion,” she said. “And eventually we’d like to see the event on TV.”
Armstrong said for some club curlers, events like the PIC and Dominion Curling Club Championship have given them new hope.
“It’s added a bit of a competitive edge and I think the curlers like that,” she said. “It means more teams are bonspieling in preparation for their club championships, and it’s extending the lifespan of some curlers.”
And with the Canadian Curling Association’s efforts to grow the game—most notably through its Rocks and Rings program which introduces curling to elementary school children by bringing the rink to the school gym—Armstrong in more optimistic about the sport’s future than ever.
