THUNDER BAY – An event was held at Port Arthur Curling Club on Saturday that was intended to get more Black youth into curling in a fun and safe environment.
“They are all so enthusiastic as they're cheering each other on and encouraging each other to keep going," said Jendaya Hopkins, event coordinator.
“It's been amazing watching how they're working together as a team and supporting each other.”
The aim of the event was to introduce youth to sports they may have never tried or heard of before and build connections in the community.
“This is a huge deal for our community. When [Jendaya] and I were growing up, this would not have even been a possibility. There were not a lot of us and so we would have just our very small movie nights,” said Kristen Kowlessar, a volunteer.
“To be able to have this many kids come out and try something new in a safe environment, this is a huge deal for our community. It really shows that there's so many of us here and our community is only growing and so many better things can come for us.”
Around 21 kids came out to learn all about the basics of curling from local professionals including Christine Hall, vice-president of Curling Jamaica, who said seeing all the youth participating was amazing.
“This is so awesome. When I started curling I knew of one Black female curler and she was Russian and did not speak English,” she said.
The first event was actually supposed to be held last year, but due to how late in the season it was it wasn’t able to hit the ice. This year the kids were thrilled to be able to learn how to play.
“Our community is getting so inclusive and this just warms my heart. When I first came here in 82 you didn't see this. I was probably the oddball out here,” said Hall.
“And now this is great and we're seeing them in other sports. We have cricket here now, which is great. They're playing soccer now, and curling and hockey."
