Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Scott Chadwick is going back to where it all began, lending his expertise to a junior curling workshop Feb. 21 at the Napanee District Curling Club.
Chadwick, who has curled at top provincial, national and world events, was a graduate of NDCC’s curling program before curling for Queen’s University. These days he serves as lead for Greg Balsdon’s rink, based out of the Cataraqui Golf and Country Club in Kingston.
“It’s the exact same program I started in,” Chadwick says of NDCC’s junior program. “My dad used to pick me up from school and we’d go to the curling club every Wednesday. I started doing that when I was 7 and one thing lead to another and I got into the men’s league and went on from there. That junior program means the world to me, it’s where I got my start and gave me the opportunities that I have now.”
Now 27, he has travelled the country playing at the top level against some of the best teams from across the world.
During his visit on Feb. 21 to the NDCC he’ll be running drills, offering tips and just talking to the kids about how far they can go in curling if they put in the work. He’ll also be giving away signed jerseys and curling gear.
He hopes his visit will help spark interest in the next generation to pick up a broom and give curling a try.
Scott Chadwick.
“Curling’s full of great people,” said Chadwick. “I love the sport, I love everything the sport has enabled me to do. It always feels like when you ask a curler how they got into the sport it’s because of their parents. I want to work to get more youth involved because I know first hand what you can get out of the sport and how much fun it can be.”
Among his career highlights to date was the opportunity to serve as a replacement played for Team Quebec during the 2010 Canadian Juniors, which were held in Napanee.
His visit is a way to give back to the community and he hopes it’ll help ensure that the future generation continues to keep the club active.
NDCC runs two junior programs for ages 8-14 and 14-20. Anyone 20 and under not in the junior program but interested in attending the workshop can email scottychadwick@gmail.com.
In the meantime Chadwick has a busy week ahead of him as the Balsdon rink prepares for the Ontario Tankard championship, which gets underway Wednesday in Huntsville. They’ll enter as the third seed behind John Epping and Glenn Howard.
“We’re in good company,” said Chadwick. “Just have to do all the all the little things right and make sure we hit the level of performance that we know we can do. I think if we do that we’ll be around on championship weekend. Then it’s just a couple wins and I really like our chances. If we have a good week we’ll be moving out to Regina for the Brier which would be a good way to wrap up the season.”
Looking even further down the road, he’s hoping to help rally the local community to help Kingston with its bid to host the 2020 Brier.