Rockin' with one of the best
Top coach spreads some curling know-how in Rankin Inlet
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, March 5, 2014
RANKIN INLET
Curlers in Rankin Inlet got a few tips on how to become better at their sport from an impressive source this past month.
Canadian Curling Association coach Bill Tschirhart gives Team Nunavut Arctic Winter Games junior curler Connor Faulkner a few tips while visiting Rankin Inlet this past month. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo |
High performance curling coach Bill Tschirhart, originally of Kitchener, Ontario, who now resides in Vancouver, B.C., conducted a number of on-ice sessions in Rankin, including spending a considerable amount of time with the junior boys' team that will represent Nunavut at the Arctic Winter Games (AWG).
Tschirhart, who was Canada's national development coach at the National Training Centre in Calgary, Alberta, for six years and is both a mentor and national coach, said great ice is really not needed to learn how to curl properly.
He said all that's needed is ice with a reasonable amount of speed to it.
"The advantage teams have in all three territories is they tend to live together, so team dynamics are usually not an issue because they're all friends to start with," said Tschirhart.
"They also have almost unlimited ice time to practice with.
"One of the things I bring to the table is to show them how to practise properly.
"From a skills perspective, you can become a very good curler as long as you have hacks and a sheet of ice with reasonable speed to slide."
There are also disadvantages to trying to become a better curler while living in the North, not the least of which is competition.
Tschirhart said one thing he taught Rankin's AWG curlers is how to turn their sheet of ice into anybody's ice.
He said the ice you play on might be fast, while the ice where you're going to play is considerably slower.
"We use a system called interval timing to create the ice speed you're going to play on.
"We time the speed from the back line to the hog line, keeping in mind it doesn't matter where the rock ends up.
"That would be around 3.8 to 4 seconds in Winnipeg, so that's what we practised in Rankin even though the rocks only went about halfway down the sheet.
"In Winnipeg, the rocks would go right into the house at that speed, so we turned Rankin ice into Winnipeg ice that week."
Every province and territory sends a team to the national championship through the Canadian Curling Association's equal access philosophy.
Tschirhart said he goes to the junior championship as a mentor coach for any coach or player who wants to sit down and talk about anything outside the boards.
He said while he can't help them with technique or strategy, he can help them with team dynamics and other issues.
"This past year at Fort McMurray, Alberta, and again this year in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, I met the Rankin curlers and I was here as an extension of that.
"They don't even, really, understand the potential they have for the sport.
"They're excellent athletes, but they have to learn how to bring their skills to fruition.
"I hope I taught them how to practice correctly, as that's a key component to their continued development."
