Join Pure Abilities recreational therapists, music therapists, and behavior consultants on Sundays for the Fort Wayne Curling Clubs Special Needs Curling Program. The program is free to individuals with disabilities and we highly encourage parents, siblings and peers to participate with their loved ones. We also encourage recreational therapists to participate with their clients, as curling is an ideal Rec Therapy activity during the winter months.
No equipment, experience or knowledge of the sport of Curling is required and we can get new participants into a game in as little as 10 minutes. Our focus in primarily on having our individuals enjoy their experience from the outset and allow them to progress as their interest and ability allows.
A few common misconceptions about Curling that I would like to clear up:
There is no skating. Participants walk on the ice just like walking on the floor.
We provide grippers to all participants that provides sufficient friction to make the ice barely slippery. You can safely walk, and even jog, down the ice with these grippers on.
Falls on the ice are rare, but we do provide protective headgear just in case, but participants may also bring their own bicycle helmet.
There is no need to do the traditional slide that you might see the curlers do on TV. We have delivery sticks that allow the participants to deliver the stone from a standing position and we start almost all of our special needs/adaptive participants in this manner. About 25% eventually move on to the slide.
We can accommodate participants of all abilities. We have literally never had someone that could not participate. Even wheelchairs can be accommodated. In fact, the Fort Wayne Curling Club will be hosting the 2024 Wheelchair Mixed Doubles National Curling Championship. We have worked with profound physical disabilities including those with little to no arm strength that are in motorized wheelchairs. In these instances we do hand-over-hand assistance, and while perhaps the majority of the work is done by our assistant’s, the smiles on the faces of these individuals when they get to participate is heartwarming.
The program runs Sunday afternoons from 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm and we pay 4-ends (innings) of curling each session. Teams are made up each week based on who attends so there is no commitment for participants to attend each and every week. We ask people to just show up when they can.
The Fort Wayne Curling Club has its own facility located at 3837 N. Wells Street in Fort Wayne, just across Wells Street from the parking lot of the Parkview Ice House.