Assembling Amateur Curling Teams: One-Day Workshop is ready. You can edit it inline, comment, or export it to Word or PDF.
"six hours long" as the total day (9:00 to 15:00), so the two breaks and the lunch come out of it, leaving 4.5 hours of instruction.
The day runs like this:
- Opening and Module 1 (four pillars): A pair-share opening, then a "Sort the Registrants" exercise with 12 fictional player cards.
- Module 2 (helmet comms and the Blind Date mixer): A debate on helmet comms, then a simulated mixer.
- Module 3 (team psychology): The Ice Dynamics Agreement, position role cards, and the 30-Second Reset.
- Module 4 (rules): An "Eligible or Not?" scenario sort with an answer key.
- Module 5 (mismatched teams): A three-person role-play of the one-on-one conversation.
- Capstone: Participants build a one-page Team Matching Plan to take back to their club.
Each module has a timed run of show, learning outcomes, materials, and debrief prompts. The playdown eligibility rules come from your post, so check them against Curling Canada's current pages before you teach them.
"Next" items on costs, practice time, and drills are listed as follow-up topics at the close.
Assembling Amateur Curling Teams: A One-Day Workshop
For league conveners, club managers, skips, and volunteer coordinators. Based on the blog post “Assembling Amateur Teams” by Peter Karwacki.
Format: In person, 9:00 to 15:00 (6 hours total). Includes two 15-minute breaks and a 1-hour lunch, which leaves 4 hours 30 minutes of instruction. Group size: 12 to 24 participants, seated in tables of four (each table is a “rink”). Prerequisites: None. Participants should have some experience with curling clubs or leagues.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the day, participants will be able to:
- Assess individual registrants on four pillars (skill matrix, schedule and punctuality, vibe and competitive intent, age and mobility) instead of “years curled.”
- Evaluate the trade-offs of helmet communication systems and design a pre-season “Blind Date” mixer.
- Apply sports-psychology principles to build task and social cohesion on a four-person rink.
- Distinguish Curling Canada playdown eligibility rules from the freedom of recreational leagues, cash leagues, and bonspiels.
- Diagnose and resolve a mismatched team using a four-step rescue plan.
- Produce a one-page Team Matching Plan they can use at their own club.
Schedule at a Glance
Time | Min | Session |
|---|---|---|
9:00–9:15 | 15 | Welcome and Opening: The Napkin-and-Spreadsheet Problem |
9:15–10:15 | 60 | Module 1: Four Pillars of a Balanced Rink |
10:15–10:50 | 35 | Module 2: Beyond the Spreadsheet (Helmet Comms and the Blind Date Icebreaker) |
10:50–11:05 | 15 | Break |
11:05–12:10 | 65 | Module 3: Building Chemistry (Team Psychology and the Psychology of the Rink) |
12:10–13:10 | 60 | Lunch |
13:10–13:45 | 35 | Module 4: The Rules of the Game |
13:45–14:20 | 35 | Module 5: Three Out of Four Unhappy, a Rescue Plan |
14:20–14:35 | 15 | Break |
14:35–15:00 | 25 | Capstone: Your Team Matching Plan and Close |
Materials and Setup
- Flip chart or whiteboard per table, markers, sticky notes
- Printed handouts: Sample Registrant Cards (12), Position Role Cards, Rules Scenario Cards, Mismatch Case Brief, Team Matching Plan template
- Timer visible to the room
- Optional: a phone or speaker to demonstrate the “noise problem” of a loud club during Module 2
Welcome and Opening (9:00–9:15)
Goal: Frame the problem and surface what participants already experience.
- 9:00–9:05 (5 min): Welcome, agenda, ground rules (share stories, not names).
- 9:05–9:12 (7 min): Pair-share: “Describe the worst team match you have seen or been on. What went wrong?” Collect themes on the flip chart.
- 9:12–9:15 (3 min): Present the core claim: the process used to pair individuals into teams is often opaque and flawed. Registration is noble, but the matching is usually a spreadsheet, napkin notes, and guesswork. Today replaces guesswork with a framework.
Module 1: Four Pillars of a Balanced Rink (9:15–10:15)
Goal: Participants can profile a registrant on four pillars and build balanced teams.
Run of show
- 9:15–9:30 (15 min), Teach: Pillar 1, the Skill Matrix. Why “intermediate” and “years curled” fail. Evaluate operational roles. Shot-makers versus standard sweepers: four elite shot-makers with no strong sweepers fails as surely as four beginners. Distribute skipping aptitude deliberately, because four natural Leads who all refuse to call a game is a failed rink.
- 9:30–9:40 (10 min), Teach: Pillars 2 to 4.
- Schedule and punctuality: Group “every week” curlers together. Pair travel-heavy and shift workers (3 to 4 missed games) on five-person rosters or with teams that have a deep spare pool.
- Vibe and competitive intent: Social-first versus developmental-first. A highly competitive, detail-oriented curler placed with three casual players makes the season miserable for everyone.
- Age and mobility: At least two players with the stamina to sweep hard for eight ends. A team of only stick curlers may struggle with high-intensity sweeping. Note the hearing issue, which Module 2 picks up.
- 9:40–10:10 (30 min), Activity: Sort the Registrants.
- Round 1 (8 min): Each rink uses only name, years curled, and “skill level” to build three teams of four from the 12 cards below.
- Round 2 (17 min): Reveal the full profile columns. Rebuild the teams using the four pillars, and write a one-line rationale per team.
- Gallery walk (5 min): Compare teams between tables.
- 10:10–10:15 (5 min), Debrief. What changed between Round 1 and Round 2? Which pillar moved the most players? What information would you add to your registration form?
Sample Registrant Cards (fictional; adapt freely)
ID | Years | Strength | Attendance | Intent | Sweeping stamina |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | 8 | Shot-maker | Every week | Competitive | High |
B | 2 | Sweeper | Every week | Social | High |
C | 15 | Natural skip | Misses 3–4 (shift work) | Developmental | Medium |
D | 1 | Beginner | Every week | Developmental | High |
E | 5 | Shot-maker | Every week | Social | Medium |
F | 6 | Lead | Misses 3–4 (travel) | Social | Limited |
G | 10 | Vice | Every week | Competitive | Medium |
H | 3 | Sweeper | Every week | Developmental | High |
I | 20 | Skip | Every week | Competitive | Limited (stick delivery) |
J | 4 | Second | Misses 3–4 (shift work) | Social | High |
K | 7 | Lead | Every week | Developmental | Medium |
L | 2 | Beginner | Every week | Social | High |
Facilitator note: There is no single right answer. Look for rinks that spread skip aptitude, include at least two strong sweepers, group attendance patterns sensibly, and avoid isolating a competitive player among social-first players.
Module 2: Beyond the Spreadsheet (10:15–10:50)
Goal: Evaluate helmet communication for recreational play and design a draft-night mixer.
Run of show
- 10:15–10:20 (5 min), Teach: Helmet comms. Voice transmitters and receivers in helmets, an NFL-style radio loop. The official verdict: Curling Canada’s rulebook prohibits electronic communication equipment and voice-modifying devices during a game, so it is strictly illegal in playdowns. Yelling down the ice is considered a core part of the sport’s athletic demand at the competitive level.
- 10:20–10:30 (10 min), Activity: Rec-League Debate. Recreational leagues, cash leagues, and bonspiels are self-governing, so a league manager can allow it. Half the room argues for, half against, using the trade-offs below. Prompt: “Would you pilot it in your league?”
Advantages | Frictions |
|---|---|
Silent strategy (no eavesdropping) | Loss of social atmosphere and ambient chatter |
Instant, quiet sweeping feedback | Cross-talk and interference in a packed six-sheet club |
Safety integration with protective helmets | Cost of quality, low-latency gear for four players |
Also surface the benefits: inclusivity for hard-of-hearing curlers in a loud club, a “booth coach” for rookie skips, and saving sweepers’ and skips’ voices.
- 10:30–10:45 (15 min), Activity: Blind Date Mixer. Rather than matching behind closed doors, clubs can use pre-season drafts or mixer nights where registrants play a few short, casual ends with different people. Simulate it: three 4-minute rounds in which participants rotate into new groups of four and complete a quick task together (for example, agree on a team name and a game-night snack rule). Afterward, participants jot down who they would want to team with and why.
- 10:45–10:50 (5 min), Debrief. What did you learn in 12 minutes that a registration form would never tell you? How would you run night one at your club?
Break (10:50–11:05)
Module 3: Building Chemistry (11:05–12:10)
Goal: Turn a collection of individuals into a cohesive rink using sports psychology and curling-specific practices.
Run of show
- 11:05–11:20 (15 min), Teach: From individuals to a team. Transforming individuals into a team means building both task cohesion (working together) and social cohesion (getting along). Four levers:
- Shared vision: Align goals early. Spend 15 minutes on “Are we playing to win the league, or to have fun and ensure everyone gets equal playing time?” Co-create a team contract with three bullets, guided by the ClaireRG Culture Framework: what do we want to feel, see, and hear when we are together?
- Group mechanics: Group by ability and experience. Avoid mixing complete beginners with advanced players in high-stakes drills. Define roles clearly, including non-scoring ones.
- Social cohesion: Break cliques with a “Question of the Day” circuit (low-stakes icebreakers early, deeper prompts later) and forced variety in pairings.
- Mutual accountability: Celebrate unseen behaviors and handle conflict privately, measured against the team contract.
- 11:20–11:45 (25 min), Activity A: The Ice Dynamics Agreement. Rinks draft a written agreement on three pillars:
- Intensity level: Win the league, or socialize and learn?
- Tone of the house: After a missed shot, do we want silence, immediate analysis, or a positive “good try”?
- Line-call ownership: Do we trust the skip completely, or does the vice have a heavy say? Rinks then read their agreements aloud, and the room notes where tables disagree.
- 11:45–12:00 (15 min), Activity B: Positions, Trust, and the Clique.
- Hand out Position Role Cards. Each participant matches a personality to a role and practices a one-line validating reframe (for example, to a Lead: “You set up the entire end. Nail your guards and the skip has an easy job.”).
- Lead (the foundation): consistent, low-ego, sets the tone.
- Second (the workhorse): elite sweeping stamina, hit-and-roll mastery.
- Vice/Third (the bridge): emotionally stable, manages the skip’s stress.
- Skip (the commander): decisive communicator with a short memory.
- Practice The 30-Second Reset: after a brutal end, the walk back is spent on a non-curling topic before anyone steps into the hack.
- Plan how to dismantle the House versus Delivery divide: skip sweeps the lead’s rocks in practice, the second calls the line for the vice, and at broomstacking the skip sits by the lead and the vice by the second.
- Hand out Position Role Cards. Each participant matches a personality to a role and practices a one-line validating reframe (for example, to a Lead: “You set up the entire end. Nail your guards and the skip has an easy job.”).
- 12:00–12:10 (10 min), Debrief and questions.
Lunch (12:10–13:10)
Module 4: The Rules of the Game (13:10–13:45)
Goal: Know which rules govern which format, and why.
Run of show
- 13:10–13:25 (15 min), Teach.
- Playdowns (for example, the Canadian Curling Club Championships): same-club requirement (all four are active members in good standing at the same club and play in an affiliated league there); amateur-status limits (no player at the Club Championships in the previous season; no Grand Slam, Brier, Scotties, or Olympic competitors within the last three seasons); no residency exemptions or free agents; one club per competitive season.
- The tradeoff: the rules prevent super-teams and protect grassroots fairness, but can keep friends at different clubs apart and ignore work-life mobility.
- Outside the playdowns: recreational leagues (manager’s-choice drafts, mixing clubs, dropping elite rules such as the no-tick rule under Curling Canada’s Simplified Rules Guide), cash leagues (open recruiting, equipment-focused rules such as compliant broom fabric), and bonspiels (flexible, vibe-driven rosters).
- 13:25–13:40 (15 min), Activity: Eligible or Not? Rinks sort Scenario Cards into “Fine,” “Not allowed in a playdown,” or “Depends on the league,” then fill in the format comparison.
- Four players from two different clubs enter a club-championship playdown (not eligible).
- A player competed in the Club Championships last season (not eligible).
- A player competed in a Grand Slam event two seasons ago (not eligible).
- A member who moved provinces asks for a residency exemption (not available to amateur club teams).
- Friends from two clubs form a team for a weeknight recreational league (fine).
- A cash league recruits a strong player from another region (fine; self-governed).
- 13:40–13:45 (5 min), Recap using the comparison table:
Factor | Recreational League | Cash League | Weekend Bonspiel |
|---|---|---|---|
Primary goal | Fun, socializing, learning | Prize money and high competition | Socializing, travel, club culture |
Roster design | Mixed skill; flexible positions | Position-specific specialists | Anyone willing to play and travel |
Commitment | Low | High (practices, strict spare rules) | Medium (a full weekend) |
Module 5: Three Out of Four Unhappy, a Rescue Plan (13:45–14:20)
Goal: Intervene early and well when a team is clearly mismatched.
Run of show
- 13:45–13:55 (10 min), Teach. A 75% dissatisfaction rate left to linger destroys morale and psychological safety, so intervene immediately.
- Diagnose: Hold private one-on-ones with all four. Listen to the unhappy three without judgment, and check the outlier’s perspective, since they may be unaware or feel isolated and defensive.
- Identify the core issue: a skill or pace gap, a behavioral or cultural clash, or a structural failure (roles and goals poorly defined).
- Take decisive action: coaching or a mentor and rebalanced workload (skill gap); a facilitated alignment meeting and direct, objective feedback (clash); redefined roles and boundaries (structural failure).
- Know when to reassign: if the issue is toxic behavior or a gap too wide to close in the season, move the outlier, framed neutrally as a realignment to better suit the team’s needs.
- 13:55–14:15 (20 min), Role-Play: The One-on-One. Groups of three take the roles of Convener, Unhappy Member, and Outlier, using the Mismatch Case Brief. Rotate every 6 minutes so each person plays the Convener. Conveners practice asking open diagnostic questions and categorizing the issue.
- 14:15–14:20 (5 min), Debrief. What was hardest? What wording protected dignity?
Break (14:20–14:35)
Capstone: Your Team Matching Plan and Close (14:35–15:00)
Goal: Leave with something usable on Monday.
- 14:35–14:52 (17 min), Build the plan. Individually or by club, complete the one-page Team Matching Plan:
- Five questions to add to your registration form (covering the four pillars)
- A run sheet for a Blind Date mixer night
- A three-bullet team contract template, including the Ice Dynamics questions
- A mismatch escalation path (who talks to whom, and when)
- Your policy on helmet comms for recreational play (allow, pilot, or not)
- 14:52–14:58 (6 min), Share-out. Volunteers share one idea each, and participants write one commitment on a sticky note.
- 14:58–15:00 (2 min), Close. Complete feedback forms and review follow-up topics: aligning expectations on costs and practice time, scheduling a team’s season, and on-ice drills to cement these principles.
Assessment and Evaluation
- During the day: Quality of Round 2 team rationales (Module 1), the Ice Dynamics Agreement (Module 3), and Scenario Card accuracy (Module 4).
- End of day: The completed Team Matching Plan and a short feedback form.
Facilitator Notes
- If a module runs long, trim the debrief rather than the activity. The activities carry the learning.
- Present the playdown rules as of the date of delivery, and check Curling Canada’s current eligibility pages before each session, since requirements can change.
- Encourage participants to bring real, anonymized examples from their own clubs.
Catering and Logistics
Here's a refreshment plan for the 9:00 to 15:00 day, built around the arrival, two breaks, and lunch in the schedule. I priced it in three tiers using Ottawa menus and general catering guides. These are planning numbers, so get two or three real quotes before you commit.
What's served, and when
| Moment | Essential (drop-off) | Standard (caterer, buffet) | Premium (hotel or conference centre) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrival, 8:30 | Coffee, tea, water, muffins | Coffee and tea station, pastries, fruit | Hosted continental breakfast |
| Break 1, 10:50 | Fruit, granola bars, coffee refresh | Fruit and berries, nut and dried-fruit mix, coffee refresh | Same, with service staff |
| Lunch, 12:10 | Sandwich and wrap platters, salad, cookies, water or pop | Hot buffet (pasta or protein, grilled vegetables, flatbread, salad, squares), coffee and tea | Hot buffet with sides and dessert, soft drinks included |
| Break 2, 14:20 | Cookies, pop, water | Squares, coffee and tea, pop, sparkling water | Same, with refreshed stations |
Approximate cost per person
| Essential | Standard | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrival | $6–8 | $9–11 | $18–20 |
| Break 1 | $5–6 | $7–9 | $13–15 |
| Lunch | $15–20 | $22–27 | $27–32 |
| Break 2 | $5–6 | $7–9 | $7–9 |
| Before tax | $31–40 | $45–56 | $65–76 |
| With 13% HST | $35–45 | $51–63 | About $84–99 (with 15% service charge) |
Approximate totals, taxes and fees included
| Participants | Essential | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | $420–540 | $610–760 | $1,010–1,190 |
| 20 | $700–900 | $1,020–1,260 | $1,680–1,980 |
| 24 | $840–1,080 | $1,220–1,510 | $2,020–2,380 |
Where the numbers come from
- General range: One catering guide puts drop-off catering at $10 to $20 per person and buffets at $18 to $35. That fits my Essential and Standard lunch figures.
- Ottawa hotel pricing (Premium): A downtown Ottawa Holiday Inn menu lists a continental breakfast at $18.25 per person and a burger bar lunch at $26.95 that includes soft drinks, with 13% HST and 15% gratuity added. Its other menu lists fruit and berries at $7 per person, a snack mix at $6, and canned pop at $3.
- Taxes and fees: The per-person price usually covers food and delivery only. Staffing, setup, tax, and service charges are typically added after the subtotal.
Planning notes
- Minimum fees: Small groups may hit a minimum. One pricing guide lists basic buffet minimum event fees of $1,000 to $1,500. At 12 people, the Essential tier may cost more than the table shows unless the caterer waives it.
- Dietary needs: Add a dietary question to registration (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, allergies), and label every item at the buffet.
- Cost-saving options: If the workshop is at a curling club, check whether its kitchen or lounge offers a group package. A rented coffee urn with grocery-store pastries can cut the arrival and break costs. Keep lunch professionally catered.
- Contingency: Add about 10% for late registrations, extra coffee, and delivery or rush fees.
- Cost recovery: If you charge a registration fee, refreshments alone come to about $35–63 per person at the Essential and Standard tiers, before the venue, materials, and your time.
Prices change, and some menus I found predate 2026, so treat these as ballparks. I can also add this as a Refreshments and Budget section in the workshop document if you'd like.
