The Curling Ice Quality Improvement Project (CIQIP) is a pilot project formed by a group of curling ice makers who saw an opportunity to support ice makers by offering webinar training to those unable to attend in-person training. In the spring of 2020, we partnered with the Grand National Curling Club (GNCC) to test our idea with ice makers from their member clubs. We are grateful for the GNCC’s willingness to work with us in getting our project off the ground.

 

During the initial six months we surveyed ice makers from both dedicated and arena clubs. The surveys provided a great deal of information about their club, the practices they followed, their training needs, and where they went for help. The responses helped us determine areas in which to focus training.

 

Over the last three years we successfully provided training and support to both dedicated ice clubs and clubs operating in an arena facility. Surprisingly, we learned there was interest not only in the eastern United States, but in other parts of the U.S., Canada, Korea, New Zealand, and France.   

 

Last spring, we took a break to assess what we had accomplished, determine if there was interest by our team in continuing, and what that might entail. 

​

What’s’ Next

​

We plan to carry on with the project for another three years. 

 

We will continue to offer training and are exploring when is best to offer training.

​

We are thinking of trying another survey. The information from the surveys on actual practice was very interesting. The surveys were long and the sample size for dedicated ice clubs was very small.   Surveying a larger sample of dedicated ice clubs with a short topic specific survey of practice might be valuable to those who do training, and to the profession in general.  

​

Last, we have talked about engaging ice makers on topics that are related to the work you do. We do have one topic in mind. You can share ideas with us by sending a message to rockpic1@gmail.com.