Wheel chair curling clinic draws large crowd

Trendal Hubley-Bolivar with skip Debbie Earle prepare to send the stone down the surface at the New Caledonia Club in Pictou during the first wheel chair curling clinic in the area. (Harvie photo)

PICTOU – The ice can be a very scary place for someone in a wheel chair, explains Ralph Ferguson, but we now have an opportunity to take part in one of the fastest growing para-sports, wheel chair curling.
For the past year, Ferguson along with the group, Let Abilities Work, has been pushing for wheel chair accessibility in the New Caledonia Curling Club in Pictou.
After receiving funding through the United Way, a wheel chair accessible bathroom was put into the curling club.
“That was my main priority this year,” explains Alta Munroe, past president and current executive member. “Getting the bathroom put in downstairs.
Munroe also spoke with Curl Nova Scotia to arrange for a wheel chair curling clinic, the first outside of Halifax.
Saturday and Sunday, Trendal Hubley-Bolivar conducted the first two days of a four-day clinic to teach residents in Pictou County how to wheel chair curl.
Hubley-Bolivar was an able bodied curler for seven years before getting into a car accident that put him in a wheel chair. He has been playing wheel chair curling for the past five years at national competitive level.
“The best part is anyone can play,” says Hubley-Bolivar.
Hubley-Bolivar began with the basics of curling and the difference between wheel chair curling and able bodied curling.
“The chair must be directly on the surface and your feet cannot touch the ice while throwing,” he explains. “You can use a manual or power chair and a delivery stick to throw the stone but you also need warm clothing, gloves, mittens and hats as well as a stop watch, water and a rag to clean the chair from weather and road debris.”
The only other difference between curling and wheel chair curling is that there is no sweeping in wheel chair curling. Hubley-Bolivar also taught clinic attendees the difference between the two types of stone delivery, the lean or upright delivery.
This was everyone’s first time trying their hand at wheel chair curling, including Ferguson who was thrilled to have this initiative come to fruition.
“This feels great,” says Ferguson. “That’s what we (Let Abilities Work) are all about, including disabled people in the community as much as possible. It’s a great recreational activity devised for people of all abilities.”
Anyone in Pictou County and surrounding areas interested in taking part in the second portion of the clinic can show up at the New Caledonia Curling Club in Pictou from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.