Curling 2019 - 2020 Discussion Thread

[Monzanator 4,797]

4 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

There’s been some recent growth though. Ukraine open its first purpose-built Curling center this winter. Sure it’s the probably the saddest thing you’ve ever seen, but it’s better than nothing 

 

I do agree that the sport is still marked by terrible lack of diversity. I’m really hoping to see some new faces in Beijing. Hopefully Mixed Doubles actually gives us some new faces this time.

 

Most of these curlers start at age 5-6? If you start at 11-12 you're already way behind. I bet every single Canadian high-school team would beat 80% of the world senior teams 8 times out of 10

 

Curling is equally as top-heavy as cricket or rugby. There's like zero chance someone new comes up IMO, we had the Asians rising over the last decade or so and that would be it.

[Olympian1010 8,251]

2 minutes ago, Monzanator said:

 

Most of these curlers start at age 5-6? If you start at 11-12 you're already way behind. I bet every single Canadian high-school team would beat 80% of the world senior teams 8 times out of 10

 

Curling is equally as top-heavy as cricket or rugby. There's like zero chance someone new comes up IMO, we had the Asians rising over the last decade or so and that would be it.

No doubt. Do they have Curling at Canadian High Schools?

 

There’s definitely more competitiveness than Cricket. However, I’d say Cricket is more diverse because more nations play it (even if they’re not competitive). I’d say Rugby is more competitive and diverse, but even then it’s close.

[Monzanator 4,797]

1 minute ago, Olympian1010 said:

No doubt. Do they have Curling at Canadian High Schools?

 

There’s definitely more competitiveness than Cricket. However, I’d say Cricket is more diverse because more nations play it (even if they’re not competitive). I’d say Rugby is more competitive and diverse, but even then it’s close.

 

Cricket just reduced the number of World Cup participants to 10! They still had 14 back in 2015. Everyone expands the number of participants in the global events but cricket actually does the opposite. Curling has more teams in WChamps than cricket and it's actually more diverse because cricket only has nations from the Commonwealth so another relic of the colonial era & the defunct British Empire.

[Olympian1010 8,251]

19 minutes ago, Monzanator said:

 

Cricket just reduced the number of World Cup participants to 10! They still had 14 back in 2015. Everyone expands the number of participants in the global events but cricket actually does the opposite. Curling has more teams in WChamps than cricket and it's actually more diverse because cricket only has nations from the Commonwealth so another relic of the colonial era & the defunct British Empire.

Even with only nations from the Commonwealth, I believe the ICC has more registered members, but I could be wrong. Curling is sport where I think non-winter nations could make an impact in winter sports. Yes, it would take years of programs and practice, but I do think with the right resources it would be possible one day.

[Monzanator 4,797]

9 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Even with only nations from the Commonwealth, I believe the ICC has more registered members, but I could be wrong. Curling is sport where I think non-winter nations could make an impact in winter sports. Yes, it would take years of programs and practice, but I do think with the right resources it would be possible one day.

 

China, Japan and Korea already did that because they could afford to.

 

You can just naturalise Canadian players right away and skip the waiting period while saving tons of money. Hell, they can train in Canada but just represent some other nation in global events. That's a much easier way to expand the nations pool, in table tennis they have these Chinese playing for every country there is so why not Canadians in curling? I mean France should be a powerhouse in curling but they're not. I bet the Quebec's 30th best team would still be France's #1 team with ease

[intoronto 6,559]

1 hour ago, Monzanator said:

 

Probably nothing. The qualification points will be based on 2021 WCH alone most likely. Curling is one of the least diverse sports anyway with always the usual suspects competing all the time. It won't be a problem.

I respectfully disagree on this one. 

 

Just looking at the last Olympic results, mixed doubles etc. there is diversity in the sport. Maybe usual suspects winning, but not just competing.

[Monzanator 4,797]

22 minutes ago, intoronto said:

I respectfully disagree on this one. 

 

Just looking at the last Olympic results, mixed doubles etc. there is diversity in the sport. Maybe usual suspects winning, but not just competing.

 

That's the thing though, just competing isn't gonna create a lot of buzz around the event. Poland's women team was in Division B at the last Euro Champs and we had a grand total of 7 teams at the national champs (33 for men). We have like two women teams we can send on the international stage without getting embarrassed. So that's like 8 curlers in a country of 38 million. I bet you can find more curlers at your local pub every night The teams from Far East invested a ton of money in coaching & facilities but no way countries like Romania, Poland or Spain will follow suit. Everyone invests money in their strong disciplines rather than building one from the scratch. The next big thing in curling will probably come from Qatar or another Gulf state

[Olympian1010 8,251]

I’d just like to take a moment to point out that there is a Polish curler on forum 

@Vojthas can give us really good incites into Curling in “non-competitive” countries.

[Monzanator 4,797]

9 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

I’d just like to take a moment to point out that there is a Polish curler on forum 

@Vojthas can give us really good incites into Curling in “non-competitive” countries.

 

It doesn't take a curler to know that Polish Curling Federation is currently suspended by WCF. We could be kicked out of the sport alltogether, the decision was supposed to happen in September. So, not only Poland isn't really competitive but actually on the verge of extinction

[Olympian1010 8,251]

35 minutes ago, Monzanator said:

 

It doesn't take a curler to know that Polish Curling Federation is currently suspended by WCF. We could be kicked out of the sport alltogether, the decision was supposed to happen in September. So, not only Poland isn't really competitive but actually on the verge of extinction

Yeah, @Vojthas explained it all to me a while back. The good news is that his Federation might become the new one