It’s not often a couple of Olympic contenders show up in a small-town Saskatchewan curling club to gather community kids for an entertaining and illuminating session of fun and learning revolving around the sport. However, for the past 13 years or so, that’s exactly what has happened with Corr Grain’s Community Rocks program, headed up by top mixed doubles curling duo Laura Walker and hometown hero Kirk Muyres.
“We’ve been doing this for 13 years, visiting communities throughout Saskatchewan, just getting kids excited about the game, get them coming out to the clubs going ‘that was really fun – I want to go back to the curling rink.’”
The locations announced for this year include Unity on January 28, Kindersley on January 29, and Denzil on January 30.
“If you’re around those locations, come on out, say hi to us, and bring the kids out for some fun,” Muyres offers.
Community Rocks predates the Walker/Muyres team-up with their focus on mixed doubles. Kirk has long been involved with the youth curling movement along with various incarnations of his four player men’s teams including brother Dallan Muyres, import Matt Dunstone, the Marsh Brothers, Colton Flasch and others. He’s quick to give praise to all those curlers and movements that support growing curling with youth.
“Community Rocks has been great, but that’s only one piece of the puzzle. There are tons of programs and initiatives like this done by other teams throughout the country. There are also the associations that get around to events like this, and all the clubs too. Talking with Bev (Kaip) and Brian (Wempe) here in Humboldt, they do a great job of getting the kids out and getting them excited about the game at the Humboldt Curling Club.”
Muyres says the effort pays off in multiple ways with kids returning to the clubs and continuing into youth and school leagues, and many will eventually take up the sport and become leaders for a new generation.
Before Walker and Muyres hit the road in western Saskatchewan, there’s unfinished business of their own in pursuit of the Canadian Mixed Doubles Olympic berth for the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.
This weekend the pair is off to Guelph for the next pre-trials qualifier. The next stop is Banff for the final event before the Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials take place from December 29 to January 4 in Liverpool, PEI. We’ll follow the journey the Team Walker/Muyres into the Olympic Trials at the end of the year.