Chinese Curling Needs Public Participation

April 1, 2011

Chinese women's curling team won the medal again in the 2011 Women's World Championship and undeniably became one of world top curling teams. But this glorious achievement could not conceal the weak “foundation” (public participation) of the whole country. Let's take some statistics as an example: in Canada , which has a population of only 32 millions, there are more than 1.3 million people who curl, and more than 1,200 curling clubs. But in China , there are only about 130 curlers totaled, among those, only 50 curlers could consistently take part in the training and competition. In the whole China , there are several curling sheets. The lack of curling sheets and expensive curling equipments restrict the sports spread and popularization.
If one of the four girls left, it would make Chinese team be less competitive. The Pan- Pacific Curling Championship at the end of 2010 proved it, in which, the Chinese women's team was defeated by Korean team and missed the champion just because of the absence of Zhou Yan.
There is a long way for China …