The Rotary World Curling Championships 2022 were held in April this year at Dumfries Ice Bowl.
Rotary Curlers Raise £2000 For Matt Murdoch Curling FoundationOver 100 curlers and their partners from Canada, United States of America, England and Scotland attended the week-long event with the team of Grande Prairie Sunrise from Canada winning the Rotary World title and the Rotary Club of Westhill from Scotland taking the Friendship title. As well as a week of great curling, the event was able to raise money for good causes. One beneficiary from the event is the Matt Murdoch Curling Foundation.
The Matt Murdoch Curling Foundation aim is to fund two young Scottish curlers annually to receive top class coaching at the Trillium Camp in Ontario, Canada. The camp brings aspiring young curlers together from around the world giving them a chance to share training techniques, develop their own skills and establish new friendships. As with many organisations the Foundation has struggled through Covid but has continued in its aims with four young curlers able to attend Trillium Camp in 2022. The Foundation also has a local connection to Dumfries and Galloway having been set up by Matt Murdoch’s friends and family in association with Rotary in memory of Matt who died in 2014. As well as being a resident of Lockerbie, Matt was a past President of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club and captained the 2012 Rotary tour of Canada. A passionate curler all his life, he contributed much to the success of junior curling in Scotland.
It is therefore fitting that the International Fellowship of Curling Rotarians is able to continue the association of Rotary and the Matt Murdoch Curling Foundation and assist in developing curling and fellowship internationally as a benefit from the Rotary World Championship. The World Championship dates back fifty years to 1972 with the Friendship event being introduced in 1996. Each country holds its own qualifying competitions to attend the bi-annual championship.
The success of the 2022 Championships has been a demonstration of team working, with a combination of local Rotary Clubs of Dumfries Devorgilla, Dumfries, Lockerbie, Thornhill, Dalbeattie, Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright all coming together to make the event a success with a real team effort and ensuring for the 2022 Championships that the many traditions and customs associated with the sport of curling, including fellowship and camaraderie fit like a hand in glove not only with Rotary, curling, but also with the Matt Murdoch Curling Foundation.
Our picture shows Nancy Smith, the chair of the Foundation being presented with a cheque by Rotarians Ian Potts and Stewart Lee from the organising committee. Nancy said “We are indebted to the Rotary World Curling Championship committee for their generous donation. The Trustees will ensure the funds benefit many more young curlers in future years”.
Bring on the next Scottish qualifying event in 2023 to be held at Dumfries Ice Bowl with the assistance of the Dumfries Ice Bowl Curling Association.
