Wheelchair Curling
Wheelchair Curling has grown in popularity due to Canada’s tremendous success at the Paralympics since its inclusion as an official Olympic sport. Wheelchair curling teams consist of four players – with a minimum of one female player per team. Wheelchair Curling is open to individuals who are non-ambulant or can only walk short distances. This includes athletes with significant impairments in lower leg/gait function, such as spinal injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis or double leg amputation, who use a wheelchair for daily mobility.
In Ontario, not all curling clubs are wheelchair accessible, but vibrant programs exist across the province to provide opportunities for individuals in Wheelchairs to try curling. Recreational and Competitive programs exist and many wheelchair athletes are integrated into league play with able-bodied curlers.
Multiple Wheelchair competitions occur in Ontario each year – some competitions lead to a national championship.
Learn more about Wheelchair Curling.
Vision Impaired Curling
The Ontario Curling Council has recently started working with the Ontario Blind Curling Association, in an effort to include Vision-impaired curlers in some of our para-competitions. Vision-impaired Curling differs little from regular curling – there are four players, but the team benefits from the use of a designated sweeper, and a guide to help line up the curlers and communicate the shots called by the skip. Each event follows a classification system for the visual acuity of the team.
Visual-impaired Curling is included at the ParaSport Winter Games.
Learn more about Vision Impaired Curling.
Stick Curling
Many Active-for-Life curlers are able to continue to participate in the sport of curling with the use of the “stick.” The Ontario Curling Council’s member associations, CurlON and the NOCA have embraced stick curling and permit its use in many of their competitions. Check for specific event rules published with each competition.