Ottawa Blind Curlers’ Association members Mike Hayes and Bill Mohrmann-Watson prepare for curling practice at City View Curling Club.
As the Ottawa Blind Curlers’ Association opens a new season, hopes are high that this year the sport can get the international attention it needs to be recognized by the International Paralympic Committee.
Bill Mohrmann-Watson has competed at the last five annual Vision Impaired Championship Bonspiels as a member of the Ottawa team.
The competition is held at the Ottawa Curling Club on O'Connor street every February as part of White Cane Week.
He says the sport has been gaining much-needed recognition since the national competition began.
Jim Kelly, who isn’t curling this year because of an injury, says the bonspiel has helped to raise awareness of the sport and give it some credibility.
He says in order to be established as a paralympic sport, blind curling must hold two world competitions, with at least four international teams taking part.
Partnered with the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB) Ottawa chapter, the community of visually impaired curlers in Ottawa is trying to make this happen.
Mike Potvin of the CCB says the sport needs international support.
Because the blind group is located in Ottawa, Potvin says it can work with the local community to put together an international competition.
He says in order to be recognized by the IPC the blind curling community has to "demonstrate it's not a local sport or happening in one country, it has to be an international event."
At this past February’s Bonspiel, the CCB invited 20 embassies to come and play blindfolded.
The event showed participants the experience of playing blind and gave them a feel for the sport.
Potvin says the event turned out great and he hopes to see more teams come out in 2010.
Blind curling is recognized by the Canadian Curling Association and has a section in it's rule book.
The CCA developed training packages for coaches and allotted funding to certify volunteer coaches under the new regulations.
Kelly says the biggest barrier for blind curling obtaining paralympic status is funding.
International teams – including those in Scotland, the United Kingdom and Sweden – can’t afford to send teams to compete in Canada.
The local blind curling group’s funding – provided by the CCB, player dues, and local groups like Kiwanis and the National Capital Sports Council for the Disabled – doesn’t go far enough to fund an international event.
Kelly says the teams had hoped to be showcasing vision impaired curling as a demonstration sport at the 2010 Paralympic Games.
He says now they’re setting their sights on 2014.
Kelly says another barrier to being recognized by the IPC is that as visually impaired curlers become comfortable on the ice and gain the skills to play independently, without a guide on the ice, they begin to play in sighted leagues.
“It’s a bit of a vicious circle,” he says.
Kelly adds that funding for visually impaired leagues could suffer if players begin defecting en masse and integrating into sighted leagues.
Mike Hayes has been with the Ottawa Blind Curlers’ Association for six years.
He helped start the national Bonspiel and is involved in the organizing committee that is pushing to make it an international competition.
In December, the club is hosting a demonstration of visually impaired curling at the Nepean Sportsplex.
The event is designed to get people excited about the sport.
Hayes says they can teach sighted players “to draw to the buttonblindfolded.”
The club will continue to focus on gaining international recognition and involvement so they can be showcased as a demonstration sport at the 2014 Paralympic Games, which are being held in Sochi, Russia.