WINNIPEG – Darren Hawkins can make the timely tap backs. He just can’t see them.
“If I’m looking down at the rink, it’s like the picture is shaking,” said the Winnipegger.
Hawkins is legally blind. He’s one of a dozen Manitobans who meet once a week to play in the vision impaired curling program at the Thistle Curling Club.
“We want to give people the opportunity to live life to the fullest and to be active in the community,” said the Vision Impaired Resource Network’s Doris Koop.
The game is played exactly like it normally is minus a few tweaks.
“Sometimes we’ll bring the brush closer to them,” said head coach Walter Koop. “Maybe to the first hog line or even closer in some cases if they can’t see that.”
“We developed a clock system that they use,” said curler Vic Pereira. “When I deliver a stone, then a person would tell me where on the face of the clock that stone would land.”
When it comes to sweeping, a guide follows the curler down the ice to steer them around any stones that may be sitting in the way.
“The safety aspect, we take that very seriously,” said Walter Koop. “We make sure that nobody stumbles across a rock.”
Vision impaired curling has never been included in the Paralympics. Local organizers though are trying to change that.
“I’ve worked with the Canadian Curling Association,” said Doris Koop. “The coach and myself have gone to Scotland to train coaches there.”
Helping to give others the chance to crack a few rocks.
“It’s given me a lot of experience and also going and not being afraid with the sighted boys,” said Hawkins.
Comments