THUNDER BAY — As part of the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, a Women in Curling Connect was held at the Valhalla Hotel and Conference Centre.
The conference brought together leaders in Women in Curling and members of the community.
“There are women in the room from all aspects of curling and they’re here to connect, make friends with each other, make more connections (and) learn a little bit more about some of the things that we can do to encourage more women and girls to participate in curling and in sport,” said Elaine Dagg-Jackson, the Women in Curling Executive Council chair.
To get more women and girls involved, she said they first need to get them in the door, try curling and see that it’s “a place where everybody belongs.”
“As soon as we get them into the curling rink, then it’s our responsibility to make sure that they have so much fun they can’t wait to come back,” said Dagg-Jackson.
“And so, everything that we do is kind of built around that concept. We build programs, we build opportunities and experiences where girls and women can try curling and find a place where they belong.”
Dagg-Jackson explained that they also present several interesting and exciting initiatives in the community at the Scotties and elsewhere.
This includes not only the conference but also the Legends Reception, which celebrates all the inspirational women who have won the Northern Ontario Scotties' championship.
She added they further focus on a couple of pivotal pillars that have been very major in their journey, including the Girls Rock, hosted Saturday at the Port Arthur Curling Club.
The event offered girls the opportunity to come together to learn about curling from women and the group with the aim of becoming lifelong curlers.
Cori Morris, the ambassador of the Girls Rock presented by Scotties program, said 54 young girls in Thunder Bay came out to try curling for the program.
“I heard some really, really wonderful comments from the girls and sensed the excitement in the room as they were departing and the parents… seemed really excited and were talking about how their girls had had so much fun," said Morris.
“So certainly the hope is that we will get more girls into the sport and coming back, whether it’s curling or whether they just get excited about trying any sport, is the most important part.”
Originally an initiative out of the Women in Curling program part of Curling Canada, Girls Rock was a response to a Rally Report that found girls’ participation levels continuing to fall behind boys and more than one in five girls leaving the sport during adolescence.
“We wanted to change that and we wanted to change those numbers and so we created Girls Rock as a tri-curling program to just give girls a little appetizer into the sport of curling,” said Morris.
Given her history in curling, Morris said she would love to see them pursue curling.
“I think curling has long been a sport that has been passed on through the generations,” said Morris.
“I started curling because my parents and my grandparents curled and that’s why they curled, so that’s curling’s history and it’s a rich history.”
However, as Canada becomes more diverse, she added, there is a need to tell curling’s story and get it on people’s radar.
“Last year we did just by a show of hands how many people were there because parents or grandparents curled and only half the room put their hand up and so that means the other half was there because they just heard about it,” said Morris.
“And (it) was super exciting. It’s really wonderful to see the sport expand into new communities that maybe didn’t know about this sport before.”
She said she believes curling also has a great opportunity to help solve some societal problems by providing social connection and offering great fun and fitness to young girls, women and seniors.
“There’s a place for everyone in this sport, which is beautiful,” said Morris.
Morris added that she wanted to convey to anyone with the courage to come out and try something new that they already have the same four qualities she has as an Olympic medalist: curiosity, courage, support and perseverance.
