A leader in the Okotoks curling community is ensuring opportunities are there for women and girls to get in the game.
Atina Ford Johnston was one of five recipients of the inaugural Women Curling Leaders’ Circle Gender Equity Awards, which comes with a $2,000 grant from Curling Canada for the winning proposals, for her pitch to put on a women in curling symposium this fall at the Okotoks Curling Club.
"What we're hoping to do in Fall 2021, as long as COVID restrictions allow it, is to hold a one-day women in curling symposium to interact and keep women and girls in the sport of curling," Ford Johnston said. "And to also offer a competitive edge for any women or girls seeking improved curling performance and to really build a support network of women across the province involved in curling and provide a platform for them to discuss current issues and opportunities.
"It's kind of varied and very broad, but we have interactive topics and a social event that will include a panel discussion around some current events in curling and to get feedback."
The plan is to have the event run out of the Okotoks Curling Club while also renting out space in the Okotoks Recreation Centre to accommodate the wide array of activities.
"I think people, at least I am, are looking for opportunities to reconnect to community and to continue to develop and build community," she said. "I think that's something that we've realized, at least through this pandemic that we're all living through, the importance of having a strong, connected community and how we need each other, and we miss each other.
"I'm hoping that people will be excited about this and see it as an opportunity to reconnect."
Ford Johnston, who represented Canada and brought home a gold medal at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano as the alternate on the Sandra Schmirler rink, said the Okotoks Curling Club has done an admirable job creating opportunities for curlers regardless of gender.
"The Okotoks Curling Club I would say is extremely progressive," she added. "We just held a very successful, I would say, Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts last year that was very well received and really highlighted the fantastic women curlers we do have in the province. We're very proud to say the executive director of Curling Alberta is female, Jill Richard, and she's doing a wonderful job. It's nice to see women in those roles.
"I support all genders in curling, of course, and my passion is to ensure that curling grows and that we're inclusive and allow all different people to be involved. If you want to be involved, we want you involved."
Ford Johnston has been a key cog in the Okotoks Junior Curling Academy, fostering opportunities for both competitive and recreational streams for young athletes. It's a program that's helped develop elite level curlers, including the likes of Taylor Ardiel, Kyler Kleibrink and Rhiley Quinn.
"Our goal is to try to keep as many kids in curling as we can possibly keep," she said. "And we want to try and find a way for them to join our leagues as well, just keeping a strong membership base. It does help to have the academy because it allows those kids that want to go down that competitive stream to have a bit of a program or session geared towards what you need to know in order to be competitive.
"But we also have opportunities with our open leagues at the curling club for anyone who wants to be involved in a recreational way and we really promote that as well."
Ford Johnston has seen those opportunities for young curlers evolve significantly since her own experiences as a youth in small-town Saskatchewan.
"We had 75 people in our town and we held a women's bonspiel one of the first years I started to curl and I was on a team with my mom, didn't know much about the sport, but here I was playing against Marj Mitchell's team, and Marj Mitchell was the reigning world champion at the time," she said. "We don't see that happen much anymore because that Grand Slam avenue is there for those elite teams and it's caused a bit of a gap in how those grassroots or club curlers get to get that level.
"When we were younger we sought out a lot of those opportunities to curl with those older, wiser, more experienced curlers who had a lot more success in the sport. And really it taught us a lot of life lessons in working with those experienced players on the ice. I don't see that quite as much anymore."
Ford Johnston is hoping the symposium will be another opportunity for successful curlers to share their knowledge.
"It's about bringing those prominent women in curling here to our community and inviting the club level players, coaches, athletes who want a competitive edge whether it's in league play, club championship play or whether you attend the Scotties or Junior championships and just want that competitive edge." she said.
The other four recipients of the equity award are Stacey Dobbin out of North Bay, ONT. for a learn to curl event for Indigenous youth girls, Markham, ONT's Stephanie Thompson for a virtual group fitness program, Ste. Rose du Lac, Man.'s Steven Hopfner for implementing a girls only league and Niagara Falls' Stephen Fish for a mentorship program involving women and young girl curlers.
“This is the first time we have tried this type of initiative and the response was terrific,” said Elaine Dagg-Jackson, Curling Canada’s national women’s coach and program manager, who was on the selection panel. “The quality, variety of ideas and enthusiasm shown by the applicants was incredible, which made it very difficult to choose just five. This just proves what we know for sure: Canadians are passionate about promoting curling, especially to those that might be under represented. We are so excited to see what these incredible volunteers accomplish."
For more information go to curling.ca.
