SUDBURY --
The Industrial League plays games at Curl Sudbury every Saturday. It welcomes men, women and youth aged 14 and over.
"Our league has been in existence for over 65 years here at the curling club. For several years it was actually running at capacity with 60 teams," says event organizer Guy Chartrand.
Chartrand says the group noticed a decline in its membership in recent years so they decided to host a free clinic for novice and occasional players.
"People age out. There’s other family commitments that get involved so people can’t continue their curling activities on Saturdays in particular, but we have a solid core group of 22 teams now and we are always looking to increase that to 24 or 32 teams," said Chartrand.
Emily Lalonde is an event participant who stepped on the ice for the first time this weekend.
"I heard about it through my uncle he’s one of the organizers here at the curling club and he’s very passionate about curling so he called me a few weeks ago and asked if I would like to join and I’ve never curled before so I figured it would be a good opportunity to see what his passion is," said Lalonde.
"I used to curl many years ago. I used to live up in Red Lake but we moved here (Sudbury) 18 years ago and I had to stop curling, but I retired last year, and I started curling again with the seniors," said novice curler Michel Gauthier.
Approximately 15 people attended the session this weekend and the hope is that not only will they fall in love with the sport but that they would consider joining the league.
