Black Rock Initiative aims to sweep exclusion from the sport of curling

Curler and community activist Andrew Paris launched the not-for-profit organization last year to address the diversity gap in the popular winter sport

CITYnews halifax \ Steve Gow

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A new group is hoping to open up more opportunities for BIPOC youth to find their way into the sport of curling.

Founded by Andrew Paris in April 2021, with partnerships launched this past fall at such local rinks as the Halifax Curling Club and the North End’s Mayflower Curling Club, the Black Rock Initiative (BRI) is a not-for-profit organization that aims to address the diversity gap in the popular winter sport.

“We are really happy with the level of success that we have had so far — even more so with the level of exposure,” says Paris about the early success of BRI before restrictive measures shut down programs due to the pandemic.

“We had 38 participants, and out of that 38, 12 signed up to be part of their local junior curling program — roughly a third — so we are really happy with that. It just sort of reinforces our proof of concept.”

Working alongside local curling clubs, BRI has created introductory curling programs for youth that are specifically tailored to African Nova Scotians, as well as immigrants new to Canada, in order to forge a sense of inclusion in the sport.

Inspired in part from Paris’s own experience growing up on Prince Edward Island, he wanted to created an environment where more diverse cultures would feel welcome in local curling arenas.

“In my hometown of Summerside, we were the only Black family in town, so really the curling world was just a microcosm of what we went through everyday — not that there was overt racism every single day,” recalls Paris.

“A lot of times though, it is the microaggressions that I ended up facing (in comments like), ‘you are a really good curler for a Black person’ or ‘I didn’t know Black people played curling — I thought you all ran track because you’re super fast’ — those sorts of things.”

Paris says he has been a fan of the sport as far back as he can remember. He recalls watching curling tournaments on television with his grandfather and being attracted to the competition.

“I’ve never known a point where I haven’t loved the sport,” adds Paris. “I don’t know specifically what made me fall in love with it. But now that I’m a bit older, for me, it’s the social aspect.”

It is just that communal aspect that has not only enabled Paris to withstand the microaggressions or alienating feeling of often being the sole person of colour in a curling club — but it continues to fuel his drive to open the sport up to everyone.

“I used to work with the Nova Scotia Curling Association as their technical director and when you walk in, people would do a double-take — there’s a Black guy in the club,” explains Paris.

“But once I get settled, the sense of community you get from that curling club, I think that’s what makes curling so attractive and I want everybody, no matter what they look like, just to get to that point (and) just to (experience) that sense of community.”

While the pandemic put a damper on this season’s BRI’s programming, Paris says early indications show great promise for the organization when it returns later this year.

“All of our participants loved it,” says Paris. “Fun is universal. No matter what background, what culture you have — if you enjoy the experience and have fun, you are going to like it and it’s really just creating that safe and fun environment for them.”

With most clubs shutting down the season at the end of March, Paris is looking forward to next fall when he hopes to expand BRI even more. In addition to possibly starting up an adult league, BRI will return with its Black youth curling program at the Halifax Curling Club, a program for new Canadian youth at the Mayflower Club, as well as a program for Indigenous youth that will run out of Truro.

“We are working on the details of what it will look like,” says Paris. “(But) we’ll have more information as this fall gets closer (so) definitely keep it locked on our website.”

For more information on BRI, visit the website.