The trickle down of the new World Curling Federation broomhead bans has curling clubs in Centretown rinks talking.
The WCF announced the ban earlier this year with the support of Curling Canada, prohibiting all but one type of broomhead: the mustard yellow Nylon Oxford 420D.
The ban was introduced following last year’s controversial “Frankenbrooms” which clawed, scratched and grooved the ice with every stroke — allowing even the flimsiest of shots to find their target with ridiculous precision.
Conventional brooms, while a much better alternative than the classic barn-sweepers, would send a rock further and straighter with hard sweeping, but the Frankenbrooms’ ability to manipulate the ice surface changed the game.
Many of the world’s elite curlers quickly endorsed the WCF’s broomhead ban.
According to what Curling Canada officially labeled a “Sweeping Moratorium,” the ban was introduced to “ensure a level playing field” and to protect “the integrity of the sport and the spirit of fair play.”
The new brooms were tested this summer in Ottawa at a “Sweeping Summit,” featuring some of the top curlers and coaches from around the world.
The ban took effect on Sept. 12, 2016 and runs until April 30, 2018.
Centretown rinks don’t plan on restricting players right away, but they acknowledge that the change will likely take effect soon for certain high-level playdowns.
Regarding the change to adopt the WCF and Curling Canada’s new ban, Ottawa Curling Club manager Dalal Abou-Eid says: “It’s a bit of a messy situation right now.”
The O’Connor Street OCC is home to world-class curlers, such as the members of Team Homan, the two-time Canadian championship rink led by skip Rachel Homan.
Abou-Eid said there’s been a lot of talk around the rink and the club’s board has approached the league “to come up with an appropriate response” regarding the changes to broom policy in competitions.
The new broomheads may even out the game at the professional level, but their enforcement in local rinks may take some time for local bonspiel and cash-league competitors.
Abou-Eid said the rink “can suggest” players make the change to the mustard-coloured broom, “but we cannot force anybody.”
For the most part, she said, it won’t really take effect except “for the cash leagues on Wednesday nights with the big curlers.”
Rideau Curling Club president Andrew Bugg said that because of the tough competition that takes place in the Cooper Street rink, the WCF mandate will take effect in most playdowns at the club.
Bugg acknowledged that the changes likely won’t affect 90 per cent of curlers, but said his club “tends to be one of the more competitive clubs in the city,” so the broom changes are coming into effect in certain competitive events.
The broom changes, Bugg says, aren’t necessarily required, but because of higher-level cash leagues and the likelihood that players move on to regionals and provincials, the ban will have to take effect in the highly-competitive games.
“We implemented more policies in our club,” Bugg said. “We’ve limited the types of broomhead materials in our cash leagues, and we have adapted the new sweeping guidelines with respect to ‘no swapping of broom heads’ and ‘no swapping of brooms’ between players.”
Bugg said players can expect a three-to-four week “transition-period” for the change.
Al Cameron, director of communications for Ottawa-based Curling Canada, said the WCF moratorium rules will take effect when curlers are leading to provincials, nationals, world championships or Olympic trials, but local clubs “don’t have to follow our rulebook by any form.”
“If they’re at a provincial playdown they would be required to go by the broom moratorium,” he said, “but we can’t enforce anything at a club level.”