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Rocks and rings Darrell Greer Northern News Services Published Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Instructor Brian Chick spent three days helping students get a grasp on the rules and strategy of curling through the nationally-acclaimed Rocks and Rings program. The program was sponsored by Rankin's Qavik Curling Club. Chick said instructors with Rocks and Rings visit various schools to try and educate kids about curling. He said they use normally scheduled gym classes to run the curling program during their visits. "The games are fairly elementary, so we usually aim for kids in Grades 2 to 6 because that's the age group the program really seems to appeal to," said Chick. "Sometimes you may to have simplify what you're teaching to a certain level, depending on the grade you're working with." Chick, 29, is from Toronto and has been curling most of his life. He said his parents were players and he got into the sport at a very young age. "I've been actively involved with curling since I was eight years old, and I do a lot of playing, coaching and, with this program, instructing. "Rocks and Rings is a fun program that gives kids a chance to do something different while learning something new. "It's not a typical gym class experience and they really enjoy learning to play a new game. "It's almost like playing with a new toy for many kids and they get to do something novel." Chick said the Rankin kids really seemed to enjoy the program and showed a lot of interest in the game. He said the timing of his visit was also good, with a lot of curling being on TV. "The kids will be able to take what they learned in the gym class and apply it to what they see on the TV. "You did hear a lot of 'hurry' and 'hard' being hollered during the Rankin classes because those words, or terms, were part of one of the games we played. "Curling is continuing to rise in popularity in many parts of Canada and, hopefully, the same will be true here during the next few years."
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