Wheelchair curling rocks West Edmonton
By Trevor Robb
EDMONTON — Mike McMullen has been in a wheelchair for 26 years. One night of partying and a two storey fall left a young, self described “foolish” and “invincible” McMullen disabled.
The accident changed his life, but so did wheelchair sports, which he began playing 10 years later.
McMullen first got involved in wheelchair rugby, which he played for seven years. Over time the game took its toll on him physically and for the past five years he has been curling and loving every minute of it.
“It keeps you active, keeps you motivated, gets you out in the public,” said McMullen. “There’s nothing better than networking and learning more about being disabled and participating in sports with a bunch of disabled people.”
McMullen plays and trains with one of the two teams in West Edmonton at the Jasper Place Curling Club, home of the National Wheelchair Curling Championships in March. He has never competed at the national level thanks in part to our provincial rivals in the south.
Five-time provincial wheelchair curling champion and 2010 Paralympic gold medalist Bruno Yizek skips the team from Calgary. He has defeated McMullen — who curls third along with skip Cliff Nuspl, second Warren Fleury and lead Shawna Walsh — in the finals of the provincial championships in consecutive years and cementing their spot in the annual ten-team national tournament.
Unfortunately for McMullen’s squad in last weekend’s provincial championships in Calgary, the final result was eerily similar. Despite going undefeated all weekend, the squad from Edmonton was defeated 11-2 in a game that saw Yizek earning four points in the seventh end to take a commanding lead and eventually win his fifth provincial title.
There is however a shining light at the end of the tunnel for the Edmonton squad. Because the national tournament is being held in Alberta the team still qualifies as the ‘host’ team. This will be the first time anybody on the team has competed at the national level. Team coach Cathy Craig says she is confident that her team can rectify the loss and utilize the advantage of being the host team.
“What people don’t understand about wheelchair athletes when they travel is it’s hard work. It’s a challenge getting in and out of bed and going to the bathroom and getting out of the tub because most hotel rooms aren’t well equipped,” said Craig.
“Our team has chosen to stay home. By the end of the week when everyone else is tired because all their daily tasks are just so difficult, we should still be rested,” said Craig. “I just think it’s a huge advantage for us.”
The sport of wheelchair curling is in its infancy right now in terms of media exposure and recognition but after its emergence in the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic games, the sport is quickly gaining popularity amongst Canadians.
The game itself is very much the same as able body curling. Players attach a stick to the end of the rock and throw it down the ice with no assistance from sweepers, the only difference between the sport and able body curling. All matches still consist of eight ends.
However, McMullen says that despite the sport’s gaining popularity, it is still being held back by a specific rule that limits all teams wishing to compete at the provincial and/or national level to include at least one female player. This is something McMullen disagrees with.
“Ninety per-cent of the people in chairs are males, so you only get 10 percent that are females. Then you got to find one that likes to sit on the ice for three hours,” said McMullen. “It’s not holding the sport back in any way due to their skill levels, just there’s not a lot of them out there.”
McMullen told the story of 14 men who were looking to compete in provincial tournaments in Ontario but couldn’t find any female players. Consequently they were denied the opportunity to compete.
“It’s holding back the sport and eventually once they get rid of that and the sport grows more and more then we can have mens and ladies teams,” said McMullen.
The 2011 TSX National Wheelchair Curling Championships are set to go March 20-27 at the Jasper Place Curling Club. For more information contact the Canadian Curling Association at their website www.curling.ca.
Nice article – but no byline? I’m always on the lookout for wheelchair curling content and this article not only introduced an unfamiliar player, it broke some news with coach Cathy Craig’s decision to let her team live at home during the Nationals. That has both advantages and disadvantages – as well as budget implications.
Will you be covering the Nationals?
Hi Eric,
Thanks for reading and thanks for the comment. One of our sports reporters, Trevor Robb, wrote the story. We’re not sure yet, but there’s a good chance we’ll be reporting from nationals — stay tuned!
I sure will be covering the Nationals!
Good article, I’m looking forward to the Nationals as well. :)
I curl in Ontario at an Ottawa club and this is not the fact here. We have a large number of wheelchair female curlers. The fact that only one female is required may be a statement of the old boys club. I think it is refreshing that our genders do not hold back the sport and if there comes a day when the sport wil bring us a division I for one say *let the best women win*…
Joy, thanks for adding your thoughts!