Sunday Brier Sermon

REGINA—As I type this it’s a snowy Sunday on the prairies. Communion on a Sunday should feel like going for a sundae with those you fellowship with.

“Sundae” has seldom been a day off in my day job. My late father got it one day when he remarked that most of my spiritual metaphors come from arenas, and mostly curling rinks.

Why do baseball players call their stadiums cathedrals? Pithy life-wisdom is found in these sporting venues, great and small.

In case you are leery, this isn’t an approaching sermon but rather a reciting of curling truisms one can take into one’s heart on or off the ice.

(Did you know Brier curlers used to go to Sunday morning church service, and attendance was mandatory? True story.)

I love walking among the sages of our sport. The ones that have been in the arena of competition whether coaching and/or playing. I met with two of the best behind the Brier scenes at the Brandt Centre.

I don’t think many would disagree with me when I say Al Hackner would be on curling’s Mount Rushmore or Pantheon of honor. Or Paul Webster and his 17-year career as Curling Canada’s national developmental coach, now coaching Team Bottcher.

Here is the synopsis of a simple question I asked both men. Can you give me, in a few minutes, a handful of nuggets that curlers need to take to heart to improve their game?

Al Hackner is one my favourite curlers to ever slide down a sheet of ice. He’s back at the Brier—coaching Northern Ontario—for the first time since he last competed, in 2001. 

Here’s his handful.

• Find a valid instructor that will teach you the basics of a delivery. The whole package. The setup, the kick, the squaring up, the release. Then practice this until you don’t have to think about it. “It sounds basic but seek to perfect your delivery,” Hackner said. “It takes time, but it’s worth it. Priority number one.”

• Practice a lot. “The more you practice and play, the fewer and fewer bad games you are going to have. A lot of people think they can step on the ice and they’re going to be successful right away. But you must become consistent with your delivery and in understanding the game. It’s work.”

As Al was talking there was this sense the work was fun for him and for others that really love the game. To use that oft quoted coaching phrase, trust the process.

• Focus! This may be the key to Al’s overall success. He appeared unflappable, almost stony during competition, hence his “iceman” nickname. Al said he had this ability to block everything out but the game, and when it came time to deliver rocks or take a time out, he was single-minded.

When Al played, he couldn’t tell you who was on the sheets next to him or what their game scores were. It was just that stone and his team, and that’s it.

Al reported that long-time third Rick Lang once told him he didn’t think Al had a bad game over a certain five-year period. High focus and consistency.

• Breathe. When the moment got tense, Hackner said he had the ability to stay calm. I asked him how? “I never had a sports psychologist but I believe in them,” he said. “But I understood in life and in a tense moment on the ice that it’s natural to feel more anxiety or energy. If you rush things, you can lose focus; you want to succeed. I learned early on to pause, take a deep breath or two, refocus on simply the shot. Just the shot, not the possible outcomes. It brought calm into my mind.”

• Good teammates, all on the same page. It was fun to hear him talk about the importance of all the players having the same philosophy or identity. When teammates are all pulling together the energy and belief is through the roof. A wise older curler once told him in the middle of a world championship to ‘enjoy the run, these things don’t last forever. Things can change. It may be work related, family or teammate wants to alter the identity. Egos can get in the way.’

Then Al added something that can be so hard but necessary in sustaining a team. “You may have to bite the bullet and let someone go if they aren’t on the same page anymore. You gotta be on the same page.”

Paul Webster may not be well-known beyond curling circles but he is highly respected in high performance curling. He reminds me of Roger Neilson, considered by many the most underrated NHL coach of all time—brilliant, humble and coachable. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence as they both hail from Peterborough, Ont. Coaches that are coachable.

Paul’s handful:

• Minimize distractions. “It’s about the game, if you are going to become competent in the game,” Webster said. “So many teams focus on the wrong stuff. Social media won’t improve your game. Worrying about your uniform or colours won’t make you a better curler. Knowing analytics alone won’t take you to the next level.”

Mastering the fundamentals of one’s delivery, teamwork and understanding the game on the ice were what Paul emphasized. Sounds like a mix of Bill Walsh, Scotty Bowman and John Wooden—good coaches to Google if you are unfamiliar, or go to Amazon and buy their books.

• Curling is golf putting on ice. That might be my favorite nugget of this Brier.

“This is a simple game,” Paul pointed out. “It’s all about weight control at its core. Learning to master the weights you’ll go a long way.” I’ll leave it at that.

• Be a student of the game. Both players and coaches should get other points of view (POVs). Talk with those you admire in the sport. Take advantage of all the resources we have today—YouTube, live events, TSN and Sportsnet. Talk with other players, coaches, sports psychologists.

• Paul went through mediation training during the pandemic, and says this may be one of the best courses he has ever taken. In an article I found after our chat I wanted to dig deeper. He said this has helped his coaching, family life and dealing with people in general.

The emphasis in terms of training is getting teammates to take the time to understand each other. That’s easier said than done but when people buy in, the chemistry flourishes at all levels.

Both men said this is a simple game at its core. But becoming world class takes time, effort, humility, practice and caring about the small stuff. A curler has to put the time and effort in. As one of my favorite Canadian musicians says, “rust never sleeps.”

Fun fact: In Neil Young’s biography he says a ton of his first gigs were in curling rinks all over northern Ontario and western Canada.

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With all due respect to the legion of fine Brier volunteers, my vote for No. 1 goes to Mr. Mathieu, Matt Chauveau, who flew in from Marseille, France. At the very least he should get a Goldline gift coupon as the volunteer who travelled the furthest distance.

He’s kind of a gofer, looking after us Brier media folk. He was born in Saskatoon to French citizens working briefly in the Saskatchewan mining industry. As a toddler, however, he moved back to France.

Matt was not raised on the sport even though his birth certificate probably has a curling rock on it. It’s mere coincidence he fell in love with curling about 12 years ago while watching Olympic and European events on sports channels. 

He gets in five to seven bonspiels a year, mostly in France (who have zero dedicated rinks, 10 shared rinks in total) and in actual curling facilities in Italy and Switzerland.

He is a die-hard with a passion for the sport, and is getting in some ice time at Regina’s two major clubs between volunteer shifts. Matt learned to curl in a hockey rink in Paris before he moved to Marseille and admits ice conditions in France are horrible—but they make it work—as they use Zambonis and lobby for ice time with figure skaters and hockey players.

Playing in Italy or Switzerland is a treat. Coming to Canada is like going to the promised land.