CURLING : WCF 50th Anniversary Video PART 1 HD

PART 1: In the early 60s, international curling was all about the Scotch Cup – which ran from 1959 to 1967. This was the unofficial ‘World Championship’. Following on from the success of the series, an international Federation was created. Its mission was ‘To represent curling internationally and facilitate the growth of the sport’. The World Curling Federation started life as the ICF – the ‘International Curling Federation’ - in 1966. Air Canada was the first sponsor of the ‘official’ worlds in 1968 and continued to support curling until 1985. The ICF was originally a Committee of the Royal Caledonian Curling club and was based at 2 Coates Crescent in Edinburgh. Allan Cameron was the first President. Seven countries were included in 1966 but more were soon to follow as the Federation continued to expand. The first World Junior Championship was introduced in 1975 in East York, Toronto – although women were not included until 1988. It became a well established and highly regarded World Curling event and many top curling names played in these Championships over the years. The decision to concentrate on youth development and give the juniors world status was a hugely significant move by the Federation. Curling fans were important too. In 1977 in Karlstad, Sweden, the local organising committee invented what became known as the Grand Transatlantic Match. Fans curled outdoors on 20 sheets of ice at the Tingvalla Ice Stadium. The GTM has been a tradition for curling fans since. The late 70’s marked the start of the development of the women’s game and Gaby Casenova and her Swiss team were the winners of the first Women’s World Curling Championship in Perth. In 1988, Curling was included as a demonstration sport at the Calgary Olympic Winter Games and was well received but recognition as a fully fledged Olympic sport was what the Federation was seeking and so the push for full medal status continued. Gunther Hummelt of Austria became President of the organisation in 1990 and then President of the WCF after the name changed. Olympic status at last seemed within touching distance. The World Curling Federation now had 25 member nations and that meant the sport was eligible for Olympic consideration.