Ilderton Curling Club
| Ilderton Curling Club | |
|---|---|
 Wheelchair curlers competing at ICC | |
| Location | 13168 Ilderton Road Ilderton, Ontario 43°04′44″N 81°23′13″W / 43.078912°N 81.38681°W ⧼validator-fatal-error⧽ |
| Information | |
| Established | Ilderton Curling Club (1960), Incorporated in the Prov. of Ontario in 1972 |
| Founder(s) | Roy Gropp, Murray Roberts, Bruce Guy, Bill Beadle, Keith Bice, Odin Olsen, and Lloyd Thorsley. |
| Club type | Dedicated ice (2nd week Oct. to 1st week Apr.) |
| CCA region | OCA Zone 16 |
| Sheets of ice | Four |
| Rock colours | Blue and Yellow |
| Website | ildertoncurlingclub |
The Ilderton Curling Club (ICC) is a curling club, located in the Ilderton Arena complex,[1] in Ilderton, Ontario, Canada. The hockey/figure skating arena and curling club share the same ice plant. The current building was opened in 1972. Prior to this the members curled on the natural ice in the old ice hockey rink. The club is wheelchair accessible. There is an elevator to reach the lounge on the second floor, which is a licensed bar. ICC has a full kitchen. There are over 525 active curlers.
ICC has competitive men's, woman's, doubles and mixed leagues, as well as, social men's, woman's, open, mixed and wheelchair leagues in the daytime and evenings. The ice is rented for bonspiels and special events on Saturdays. On Sundays the ice is used for Special Olympics, wheelchair,[2] junior competitive, junior instructional and little rock curling. The club also hosts rental leagues including the North London Curling, Huff-and-Puff Curling and London Interfaith Curling Leagues. ICC has a Learn-to-Curl ten-week session, twice per season. The club welcomes wheelchair curlers , slick curlers and visually impaired curlers.
On Friday November 13, 2009 ICC celebrated its 50th anniversary with 50 ends of continuous curling.
In February 2017 ICC hosted the Ontario Provincial Wheelchair Championships.
In Doubles curling, members Kim and Wayne Tuck Jr. have won the Ontario Provincial title on five occasions, most recently in 2019.[3] The Tuck Team won the National title in 2014 and represented Canada at the World Curling Championships in Scotland. They competed at the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in 2016. Wheelchair curler Mark Ideson [4] has played on the Canadian National team for several years and has metaled at the Winter Paralympic Games. There are many other Provincial and Canadian curling champions that have come from ICC. Their winning banners hang proudly on club walls. Six members have received the Honorary Life Achievement Award from the Ontario Curling Association.
History[edit]
An excerpt from the Nov. 1984 issue of the ICC Courier. by Lloyd Thorsley.
The first curling in Ilderton took place one cold night when some 60 or 70 people gathered at the hockey rink to participate in the game of curling. It was about the middle of December in 1960. While everyone was dressed warmly and wore rubber-soled footwear, many, if not most, had little or no knowledge of the game. They were there to find out and to take part and what resulted was more a "Curling Party" than an organization meeting for a new sport club.
A few brash individuals set themselves up as coaches. Anyone who admitted to any familiarity with the game became a skip. Teams were formed and before the evening was over everyone had the chance to play an actual game. The games were not more than six ends to allow everyone a chance to play. Curling conditions were less than ideal and delivery techniques were varied and sometimes remarkable. But the competition was keen. One game was decided by the last stone and the reaction of the winning team was not unlike that of the victors in the Silver Broom. The "Curling Bug" had bitten.
If there was one person most responsible for beginning the Ilderton Curling Club, it would probably be Roy Gropp, who, at the time, was a Manager of the local Bank of Commerce. He led a group that included Murray Roberts, Principal of Oxbow Public School, Rev. Bruce Guy, of the United Church, Bill Beadle, Keith Bice, Odin Olsen, and Lloyd Thorsley. Somehow curling stones, hacks and brooms were acquired and the natural ice in the hockey rink was laid out with four sheets of curling ice.
The enthusiasm that began to show that first night carried on and the Ilderton Curling Club has been a continuing operation ever since. The efforts of Roy Gropp and his group were more than fully rewarded. No one at the time could have visualized the present Ilderton Curling Club but when opportunity is provided, the Ilderton community makes things happen. The "Community Spirit" was there; curling was an attractive recreation. The result was another facility and another activity for Ilderton.[5]
Governance[edit]
The club is governed by a Board of Directors who are elected by the members of the club. There are 4 Officers and 6 Directors. The physical club is rented from the Municipality of Middlesex Centre. The club employs a General Manager/Ice Maker, several bartenders, an office administrator and a half-dozen part-time ice technicians.
Bonspiels[edit]
Other regular events include a Wheelchair Two-Day Bonspiel, Mixed Doubles Two-Day Bonspiel, Family Boxing Day Spiel, Ladies Two-Day Spiel, Tier-55 Men's Bonspiel, Junior & Bantam Cashspiel, and two Men's spiels. ICC has hosted Zone, Secondary school, Regional and Provincial curling championships. ICC also hosts local bonspiels for charitable organizations for no fee.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Ilderton Arena & Curling Club | Middlesex County Tourism". www.visitmiddlesex.ca.
- ↑ "Ilderton Curling Club". www.parasportontario.ca.
- ↑ "Teams – 2020 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship".
- ↑ "Ilderton curler returns with gold". Exeter_Times-Advocate. 2 April 2014.
- ↑ "Club History", ICC Courier. Nov. 1984.
External links[edit]
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