What a pleasure it was to be invited to Dumfries to capture the Scottish Wheelchair Curling Championships taking place at the Ice Bowl.
Although this was to fulfil a brief for photojournalism as a keen follower of sports this one intrigued me. In Scotland, Curling is known as the ‘roaring game’ because the person delivering the stone shouts at those who brush the ice with special brushes in order to create friction on the ice so that the stone gets to where it is intended even curling on its path by other stones.
Wheelchair curling is different in that there is no sweepers so there is no real need to shout. Instead it is a keen eye and a stick that delivers the push on the curling stone.
Therefore there is a significant skill in wheelchair curling so much so it was included in the Paralympic Games in China.
As much as the word ‘ice’ gives you the feelings of cold I actually didn’t take the cold into account so it was me and a T-Shirt in amongst the sportsmen and ladies all wrapped up snuggly.
I will know next time. Hopefully there will be a next time.
https://scottishwheelchaircurling.com
