This year is
Saskatchewan’s turn to host the Western Blind Curling Championships. From
Thursday to Saturday, five teams from all over western Canada will compete at
the Callie Curling Club in Regina for the 41st annual championship.
According to organizers, the teams consist of a skip and a third who are
legally blind, a sighted second and a totally blind lead.
Jim Vinson is a player
who is legally blind.
“I can no longer see the
‘E’,” he said, referring to the sight chart in doctor’s offices. “So my
vision’s 20/400.”
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He says it’s often difficult for people like him to find a team
sport they can take part in.
“When you’re visually impaired or legally blind, there are very
few sports you can play.”
For Vinson, it’s an opportunity to play in a place where his
disabilities don’t matter.
“Doing things with sighted people, it’s difficult,” he explained.
“A lot of times it’s embarrassing… but when you’re with other visually
impaired and blind people, it’s just comfortable. Everybody’s in the same boat,
you say you saw something and it’s not what it was, nobody cares because
they’ve all done the same thing.”
Lori Hysert lost her vision as a teenager. It was only then that
she learned to curl.
“We’re very competitive,” Hysert said. She is totally blind, and so
developed a technique where another player taps the ice in front of her in
order for her to line up the throw correctly. It’s a skill that has taken some
time to master.
“It was a challenge. It takes a few years to get good at it, like
any sport, if you want it bad enough, you’ll work at it,” she said.
Now, she along with many others have found a league of their own,
where the joy in winning is seeing others win as well.
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