MORRIS, Man. — Steeped in history, the centuries-old sport of curling is taking a high-tech turn.
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Lasers, cameras and even speed traps now fill the Morris Curling Club. The facility, located 68 kilometres south of Winnipeg, houses the new Cargill Curling Training Centre.
“If you compare 100 years ago to today, it seems pretty weird what we’re doing,” said Chris Hamblin, who runs the training centre alongside her husband Lorne Hamblin.
The space was created to give Manitoba’s top curlers a sweeping advantage. Roughly $25,000 worth of tools offer athletes instant analysis of every shot. It’s everything the national curling centre in Edmonton has but much closer.
“It’s far easier if we can spend a half hour driving down the road to practice than jumping on a plane,” said Lorne.
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The training centre isn’t just reserved for the province’s high-calibre curlers. Children will also cycle through the facility in hopes of getting them hooked onto the sport.
“We need our new curlers, our juniors and our school kids to learn about curling and hopefully help grow it,” said Chris.
The training centre officially opens on Wednesday. The goal is to one day make it a year-round facility.
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