Words from the Education Wing—High Performance
By Morgan Court
Managing Director, Education
I recently spent a thrilling week in rural Manitoba (Selkirk to be exact). And while the town was short on cell phone service, it was long on granite rocks and boisterous females.
If you don’t know, now you know—I love to curl.
My team, which has been together since 2011, has steadily climbed the curling mountain over the past 12 months thanks to strong performances during the ’13-’14 season, including a trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. We’ve cracked the top 10 in Canada, moved into the top 15 in the world, were added to the development program of the Canadian Curling Association’s national team now compete on the national stage (see: the Grand Slam of Curling Masters event in Selkirk).
I get the sense curling is clearly getting way cooler—the opening draw in Selkirk featured team theme songs (ours was by Drake), a smoke machine and some serious disco lighting. We even felt a little cooler in our curling uniforms while doing a photoshoot with Sportsnet (which you’ll be able to see soon).
However, as cool as that stuff is, curling at this world-class level is tough. I’m constantly learning about the things you need to adjust to as an athlete at a higher performance level are less about your sport and more about managing the rest of your life with the same kind of dedication and attention. This takes some big time life adjustments and sacrifices.
But with sacrifices and adjustments come rewards like this beauty from Mike McEwen
So, every coach/instructor, spouse, employer who is close to an athlete of any sport make awesome moments like I had last week possible and everyone has a part in the success that comes with it.
Hurry hard, friends.
**Words from the Education Wing is a weekly blog written by different staff members from the PGA of Canada’s National Education Department**
Managing Director, Education
I recently spent a thrilling week in rural Manitoba (Selkirk to be exact). And while the town was short on cell phone service, it was long on granite rocks and boisterous females.
If you don’t know, now you know—I love to curl.
My team, which has been together since 2011, has steadily climbed the curling mountain over the past 12 months thanks to strong performances during the ’13-’14 season, including a trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. We’ve cracked the top 10 in Canada, moved into the top 15 in the world, were added to the development program of the Canadian Curling Association’s national team now compete on the national stage (see: the Grand Slam of Curling Masters event in Selkirk).
I get the sense curling is clearly getting way cooler—the opening draw in Selkirk featured team theme songs (ours was by Drake), a smoke machine and some serious disco lighting. We even felt a little cooler in our curling uniforms while doing a photoshoot with Sportsnet (which you’ll be able to see soon).
However, as cool as that stuff is, curling at this world-class level is tough. I’m constantly learning about the things you need to adjust to as an athlete at a higher performance level are less about your sport and more about managing the rest of your life with the same kind of dedication and attention. This takes some big time life adjustments and sacrifices.
But with sacrifices and adjustments come rewards like this beauty from Mike McEwen
So, every coach/instructor, spouse, employer who is close to an athlete of any sport make awesome moments like I had last week possible and everyone has a part in the success that comes with it.
Hurry hard, friends.
**Words from the Education Wing is a weekly blog written by different staff members from the PGA of Canada’s National Education Department**