Curling summit aims to bring brains, brooms together

There is a lot to like about where the game of curling stands in Canada. A lot to be desired as well.

All of it - or at least an awful lot of it - will be discussed, investigated and hashed out over four days in Niagara Falls, Ontario, this summer. With breaks for a wine tour and some charity golf, naturally.

The Canadian Curling Association's first 'curling summit' is being held this August 24th through 27th, with organizers hoping to pave the way for a brighter future for the game in Canada. It's a future that looks like one of those busy Weather Network graphics, the ones that tell you your day will be partly sunny, partly cloudy and with a severe thunderstorm watch mixed in for good measure.

The word 'summit' can conjure images of a think-tank being marshalled in order to ward off decay. To rebuild before it's too late. After all Ken Dryden famously called for one after Canadian hockey struggled on the world stage in the 1990's.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with things going poorly," answered CCA Chief Executive Officer Greg Stremlaw, when asked about the negative connotations of a summit.

"It’s a gathering of a group of people to talk about a whole bunch of important topics. By no means does that have to have a negative overture whatsoever.”

While curling's sunshiny bits include the continuing boffo television ratings for big events and the ever-increasing skill level of the elite class of curler as well as a healthy outlook when it comes to corporate sponsorship bucks - “We’re pleased to be in a position to have a national sponsorship portfolio that sold out for the first time in history, last year," Stremlaw said - the stormy bits consist of an aging demographic in the fan base, falling participation levels and the sport's struggle for a more mainstream acceptance.

It will all be talked about at this summit, which is packed with a wide array of topics for discussion and a roster of diverse speakers covering everything from standing out in the digital age, to sponsorship relationships, to high performance curling tips and even a speaker who will talk about the game as a sociological study. This is intensive, big-brain discussion, with an eye on strengthening what is good about curling in Canada and shoring up what is weak.

“The collective brain trust will take us a lot farther than certainly one or two people will," said Stremlaw, of the process.

“I think, if anything, the state of curling is very, very sound," he continued. "We have a mandate to try and build the sport in anyway possible and we see this as a mechanism to engage our stakeholders, to engage our sponsors, to engage our broadcasters, to engage our curling club managers."

It's a concept that is not brand-spanking new, of course. One that has been used by Hockey Canada on an on-going basis since that Dryden flare was sent up a decade and a half ago. Stremlaw says the event - which is open to anyone at all who will pay the $245.00 registration fee - has been in the works for over a year, born of the idea to stretch the national-level discussion beyond the CCA's annual congress.

In a crowded and ever-changing landscape, any sport and its top shelf executives need to be poised and ready to tackle an uncertain future. It is especially so for a sport like curling, which struggles even in its most powerful nation for mainstream acceptance.

“There’s gaps in any sport, in any organization and what can we do about those?" Stremlaw asked rhetorically.

To that end, and among the dozens of discussions, presentations and roundtables that are scheduled for August, a brainstorming session entitled "Why Aren't We Cool?" will be held. It's a session that organizers hope will foster ways to make curling more attractive to a younger demographic. The television numbers don't lie. Right now, curling is viewed by older folks. Any scan of the crowd at a typical event will back that observation up, too.

“We want to try and demonstrate that curling can be cool and is cool," offered Stremlaw. That’ll be an exploratory discussion as to what are the things that we can do to be cool to various other demographics and attractive to them?”

“What makes curling cool? And what aren’t we doing to be cool enough? Really, nothing’s off the table.”

One of the discussions that will most assuredly see a hot debate at this summit will be the one entitled "Where Have The Competitors Gone?" There are warring factions at play in this conversation. Those who see the rise of the elite curler as a boon to the game (guilty) and those who see it as a dangerous detriment. There has been a shrinking in the number of competitive curlers who opt for the playdown trail over the last few years.

Are Canada's best curlers just too good for the game's grassroots future?

Stremlaw spells out the general parameters for that discussion: “Should we be concerned with those numbers dwindling? Has that (the rise of the elite team) played a significant role?” (Those questions) are not lost on us and it’s why we’re ensuring it’s on the agenda. So it can be talked about.”

So, too, can the issue of major event attendance. Curling's television renaissance may be the proverbial double-edged sword, a sword that is getting even sharper with an explosion of extra TV coverage on the horizon. The product on television is so good now that it may be cutting into the live gate. Do fans who would otherwise tromp through the snow to see The Brier or Scotties or a Grand Slam event now decide to crash on the couch?

“We have to find different ways to rejuvenate that and find ways to ensure that people are interested in going live," explained Stremlaw. "There are all sorts of creative ways that we have to continue to challenge ourselves so that people aren’t simply going to (only) want to watch on TV.”

A gathering of this sort should only lead to greater understanding, participation and strategies going forward and for that, the CCA should be commended. Bringing in thinkers from within the sport as well as those from the outside whose expertise can help it tackle the future should provide insight on a way forward.

It's the first summit the CCA has held, but if Stremlaw is reading the tea leaves correctly, it won't be the last. Balancing the seminars with a little golf and a little socializing with Brad Jacobs and Ryan Fry (and their gold medals from Sochi) might have the desired effect of spurring on more interest.

“The proof will be in the pudding," he said. "We hope the fruits of these labours will be productive. If we add enough value, I’d like to think that people will be knocking at the door asking when the next one is. The plan is to continue that.”

It seems like the sport of curling is at a critical juncture. Riding a wave of expanding coverage, purses, event numbers and a sharp improvement in the abilities of players to make spectacular shots over the last two decades, some fear that the wave might have crested.

Others argue that you're not at the mercy of the wave at all. That you can easily strategize to be in position to pick up the next one. That kind of thinker would be welcome in Niagara Falls, this August.

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