Women in Curling Executive Council kicks off gender-inclusivity initiatives during Scotties opening weekend

On Saturday at the Port Arthur Curling Club in Thunder Bay, Ont., the Women in Curling Executive Council hosted the Girls Rock presented by Scotties program and Coaches Rock: Project Confidence as part of their Women in Curling initiatives at the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

These opening weekend initiatives were introduced to help women and girls foster a greater sense of belonging in curling and to build confidence in sport leadership and participation. The day’s focus was to promote the self-esteem, teamwork, and excitement that come with participation in sport.

Thunder Bay’s Girls Rock event welcomed 51 participants between the ages of eight and 15. Most participants had never tried curling, with many coming with groups of friends to experience the sport for the first time, together.

“I think it’s really important to build a fun, safe environment, and that’s really how the Girls Rock program is built,” said Nicole Westlund-Stewart, coordinator of the Thunder Bay Girls Rock event. “So many of the girls were so excited and asked, ‘When can we come back? What’s next?’”

More than 20 local coaches, many volunteers, the members of the Women in Curling Executive Council, and four of Canada’s former Olympic medallists in curling — Jill Officer, Cori Morris, Melissa Soligo, and Diane Dezura — also attended the event.

“There are so many life lessons from sport, not just from a fitness standpoint, but also learning teamwork and believing in yourself,” said Morris, who won a silver medal in curling from the 2010 Olympic Games. “What feels seemingly impossible can suddenly become very real and possible if you work hard at it, and so I brought my Olympic medal today to help instill some of those beliefs and dreams into other women and girls in sport.”

The event was also attended by Northern Ontario’s Team McCarville, who posed for photos with participants and signed helmets, hats, and sweaters for the Thunder Bay locals in attendance.

Kruger Products, the presenting partner of the Girls Rock program, also attended with its Scotties Facial Tissue mascot, who posed for pictures and surprised participants as they came off the ice.

As a part of their event registration, participants received tickets for Monday afternoon’s draw at the Scotties and will be attending wearing their Girls Rock sweatshirts.

The Coaches Rock event was held in the afternoon, designed to build confidence in female coaches through mastering the technical and tactical skills required for the role. Around 20 local coaches, the Women in Curling Executive Council, and additional Curling Canada instructors attended the afternoon’s event.

“Our agenda today was based on survey results obtained in a gender equity and coaching survey last summer, where we learned that female coaches want to learn from female instructors,” said Jennifer Ferris, Sport Safety and Education Officer at Curling Canada. “Our project is to help women build confidence in their ability to teach technical and tactical skills.”

The program is currently being tested to determine if it could be used in different areas of the country and facilitated by leaders outside of the curling environment. The 2025 Thunder Bay event, following the inaugural session in Calgary alongside the 2024 Scotties, tests the curriculum and teaching methodology through a joint project with University of Waterloo researchers to understand how female coaches like to learn.