By Chad Klassen

Blind curlers take joy in still being able to compete

Mar 22, 2019 | 9:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Curling is a tough sport as it is, but imagine throwing a rock down a sheet of ice if you were visually impaired.

The best visually-impaired curlers have been in the Tournament Capital this week competing in the Western Canadian Blind Curling Championships, with some competitors vision so impaired they can’t see what’s even in front of them.

“It’s tremendous,” said curler Terry Pipkey from Prince George. “For some of our curlers, they’re totally blind and see next to nothing, maybe just a little bit of light. For them, it’s probably the only opportunity they get to get some real sports activity.”

Pipkey has rentinitis pigmentosa, which he describes as having tunnel vision. He’s a sweeper for a team from Prince George, one of two B.C. squads competing in Kamloops. Pipkey was actually born in Kamloops, spending the first 15 years of his life growing up in Westsyde. His sisters still live in the city. 

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“I kind of get to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak,” he said. “I come down and participate with some other curlers, and then I get to spend my off hours visiting family and friends I grew up with here.”

Jim Vinson is the skip for the other B.C. team competing from 100 Mile House. He has optic atrophy, meaning his optic nerve has gradually died, leading to Vinson becoming legally blind 20 years. But he says as the skip, he has a slight advantage over the other players. 

“As the skip, the house is right in front of me. I can look at it,” he said. “I have to get very close to tell which rock is blue and which is yellow, whatever the colours are. They all look very much alike usually. But I get to see it, so when I get in the hack to throw my rock, I know what I’m going up against.”

For the other players that don’t have the luxury of knowing where each rock is, or whose visual impairment is more severe, many of the sweepers have lights attached to their brooms to give the curlers a line at which to aim. 

For the organizers, they’re hoping a tournament like this will encourage visually-impaired curlers in Kamloops to come together and create a team, which they say there hasn’t been in about a decade. There are currently only four teams on the B.C. blind curling circuit, including the Prince George and 100 Mile House teams competing in the Westerns in Kamloops. 

“Oh, it would really strengthen the circuit,” said tournament organizer Lori Fry from 100 Mile House. “What we’re really concerned about is the future of the sport dying off if we can’t recruit new players. The circuit could actually fall apart.”

For anyone in Kamloops interested in forming a blind curling team, you can contact Fry at 250-706-1197.