Draws to the button. Guarding the house. Sweepers hurrying, hard.
Ask non-Canadians what these phrases mean and there鈥檚 a good chance you鈥檇 get some strange looks in return. But if hockey is the sport most associated with Canada, curling may be even more definitively 鈥淐anadian,鈥� with a language that we seem to understand better than any other country.
Though she doesn鈥檛 hit the ice very often these days, Donna Meagher-Stewart is well-versed in the dialect.
Curling research
鈥淚 curled quite a bit when I lived in Toronto and was getting settled there,鈥� explains the associate professor in Dalhousie鈥檚 School of Nursing. 鈥淚t was a way to meet people, to feel part of a community.鈥�
Today, curling has found its way back into her life, this time in her research. She鈥檚 part of a three-year study funded by Sport Canada investigating the role of curling in promoting the mental, physical,emotional and social health of women in rural communities.
Led by Bev Leipert at the University of Western Ontario, the team of researchers will focus on eight communities across the country and highlight the experiences of 50-60 women. Dr. Meagher-Stewart and her research assistant Melanie Moore鈥攁n MSc candidate in the School of Human Communication Disorders鈥攁re researching women curlers in Windsor and Pugwash, Nova Scotia.
Rock of communities
鈥淭his hasn鈥檛 been studied before, to our knowledge,鈥� says Dr. Meagher-Stewart. 鈥淪ixty per cent of curling clubs are in rural communities with fewer than 10,000 people in them. We hear them called the 鈥榬ock鈥� of these communities. What does that mean for women to get engaged in such a way in their community?鈥�
The study involves visiting each community for focus groups and conversations with women curlers. The researchers provide them with a camera to take photos of what curling and the curling club means to them鈥攁 technique known as 鈥減hoto voice鈥濃�攁nd聽 each curler keeps a log book documenting their thoughts and reflections.
鈥淲hat we hear from women in these curling clubs is that they do everything,鈥� says Dr. Meagher-Stewart. "It鈥檚 all volunteers. They鈥檙e behind the bar. They鈥檙e cleaning the ice. And what鈥檚 more, it鈥檚 intergenerational: you see older and younger curlers forming community together. They all come from different walks of life, but that鈥檚 left at the door.鈥�
When the study is complete, the researchers will be making recommendations to Sport Canada on ways to bolster curling in small communities, paving the way for future generations of women to reap the benefits of the sport.