Marcel Rocque sets off on a new curling adventure – in China

Just when he'd thought he'd left the grind of curling's road trips behind, Marcel Rocque has rejoined the world of roaring game nomads. One that includes far flung destinations and challenges.

“I’d given up living out of a suitcase about three years ago when the Ferbey Four (each) went their own way," he said during a break from his job with the Edmonton Public School Board. It's a break that is about to get a whole lot longer than just summer vacation.

In accepting a position as a coach with the Chinese national curling program, the former lead for Randy Ferbey's four-time Brier championship team is embarking on a near year-long adventure. One that will see him log hundreds of hours of on and off ice instruction and thousands upon thousands of kilometres travelled, both in Canada and overseas.

“I actually flew to Beijing last weekend for two days which is kind of crazy in itself," he chuckles at the other end of the line. "Who actually ever says ‘Well, I went to Beijing for the weekend?”

The 42 year old native of St. Paul, Alberta, wasn't looking for a return to the traveling life, having gotten well used to one as a retired pro curler. With plenty more time to spend with wife Raylene and daughters Gabriella and Isabella - "it’s been nice to be home for those girls and being a family unit," he said of it - Rocque was satisfied with his existence, including his job and the chance to do a little instructing with the Canadian Curling Association.

Things changed dramatically at this year's world curling championships in Victoria, B.C. Members of the Chinese Curling Association approached the three-time world champion about instructing their athletes and a dialogue was born. Fast forward to last weekend's trip to China, where final details of his contract were completed.

Now, after having signed a ten-month contract to assist in bringing China's curling program to a higher level, Rocque will immerse himself in a blizzard of activity and travel that won't stop until after the 2014 men's world championships, which it just so happens are being held in Beijing from March 29th to April 6th.

“They have ice in starting July 8th or 9th, so I will meet up with the team there (in China) and start formal training," he said of the first of three planned trips to Asia before the Sochi Olympics, this one lasting 5 weeks.

After this summer's trip he returns to Canada and will coach the Chinese teams on this side of the ocean as they travel to take part in the constant, top-flight competitions that happen only here.

Those competitions will come in fast and furious fashion, too, with Rocque joking that at least when he played, he could get home and do some laundry on the odd weekend. Seems this undertaking will not provide much of a respite at all, with just about every single weekend filled with a spiel of one sort or another. It also means that Rocque will take a leave of absence from his job with the public school board, returning to those duties in May.

There will be action and pressure galore. While the Chinese men have qualified for the 2014 Olympics, the women have not as yet. Rocque will be part of a braintrust that aims to see them get to Sochi through a qualifier in Germany late this year.

Some might expect an experienced Canadian curler to look to gutting and overhauling the Chinese way of development, but that's not what Rocque will endeavour to do. He sees his role as being more one of augmentation than one of demolition and rebuilding.

“Maybe more along the lines of hosting these teams to maybe add to what they do to improve, to possibly give them a little more insight into how, at least, our team went about things and how some of the national training occurs here," he said.

It's been said - by more than one seasoned curling obsever - that some of the up and coming nations in the sport are quite good at the technical aspects of the game, but are up the track a bit when it comes to strategy and the notion of when to be conservative as opposed to aggressive. Rocque doesn't necessarily believe that the Chinese fall into that group.

“I think that would be very dependent on which team we’re talking about or even which country we’re talking about. I think that there’s an element of creativity with the Chinese education system that allows them, maybe, to see the strategy a little bit differently than other countries,” he explained.

This exercise shouldn't be seen merely as a would-be curling power strip-mining the resources of the traditional one. For Rocque, these next ten months will be about providing guidance to a nation the will be a Canadian foe at the Olympics, yes, but also a chance for him to return to instructing young curlers here, as a better coach.

“I think this is an opportunity for me to continue my journey that I’ve been on for so many years, assisting in the development of curling in Canada and on a national level. It allows me an opportunity to explore and develop my skill set to further my own development as a potential future coach for our country as well.”

There is a language barrier to overcome. By his own admission, Rocque knows very little of any of the Chinese dialects. “I can say ‘hello’ and I can say ‘I’m okay’ and just general things like that." His experience as a teacher with the Edmonton school board will come in handy.

“I’m a second language teacher by trade," he said. "There’s a lot of charades and acting things out in second language situations."

"I’m relying on reading body language and reading facial expressions to know if it’s good or bad, whatever they’re talking about. Anything else, I’ve got one of the coaches (who) has lived in North America for a little bit and he’s my translator.”

This will be hard work. Lots of hours, lots of travel and lots of missing his girls. In the end, Rocque hopes it will all be worth it, as he accomplishes something the Ferbey Four did not.

“I guess on a selfish level, it’s one of those things I can check off the bucket list, going to an Olympics," he mused. "Never made it as a player but this is the second best way to experience it, I guess, as a coach.”