CURLING RETURNS TO AVIEMORE AFTER 20 YEARS

A Level 1 Coaching course was held at Aviemore in November, marking a major step in the ice rink’s young history. Efforts to reintroduce a rink in Aviemore started 13 months ago and have been a huge success thanks to community-driven funding. The new facility is owned and operated by Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust with the aim to encourage and enable children to emulate Aviemore’s Olympic curlers, the Dryburgh Brothers, who competed in Nagano 1998 and to get their names on the Olympic monument in the village green.

Back in lockdown, Aviemore had a great snow and ice season, skating on Rothiemurchus pond behind the tennis club. More and more local people and businesses got behind Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust’s efforts to bring an Ice Rink back to the area on its original site at Aviemore MacDonald’s Resort. Fundraising eventually started in March 2021 with great success.

Seven months later in October, the community-owned ice pad, covered with a marquee, opened. Site manager and coach Amanda Clinton together with six staff employees swiftly started to run learn to skate programmes. The rink’s momentum grew by leaps and bounds and ice hockey returned in January 2022 with involvement from ex pro Aviemore Blackhawks coaches. The Aviemore Avalanche Ice Hockey team was formed and ran numerous games in Inverness and Elgin, covering all age groups from six-year-olds, up to adults and seniors.

Curling was back in Aviemore in July 2022, supported by an exciting visit from Bruce Mouat and the Olympic silver medallists who showed their medals to local school children. The fundraising continued and a fantastic £500 from the Postcode Lottery was used to purchase Floor Curling sets for use in local schools and community groups. A £4500 grant from Whiterby Trust in November was split to go towards both curling and ice hockey equipment and the fundraising continues with the rink particularly looking for ice-side sponsors.

The Aviemore area has a rich Olympic history – Seb Coe unveiled the aforementioned monument that recognises the huge number of Olympians from the area. With the rink’s Try Curling sessions getting busier and busier, everything is set for that legacy to continue. Singer Jane MacDonald even attended and filmed a Try Curling class for a Channel 5 programme that will air around Christmas time.