Curlers balk at Marc Kennedy's Canada-first approach

CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, N.L. — The curling empire that at times seemingly belonged solely to Canada has been divided and somewhat conquered.

Ever since both Canadian teams failed to win a medal at the Olympics a debate has been brewing over the state of this country's unofficial sport: has Canada been knocked from the top of the granite world?

Just recently, Olympic gold-medallist curler Marc Kennedy said he believes Canadian coaches and resources should stay in the country to help get Canada back on top.

"In my opinion, the international teams have gotten really, really good with our help," said Kennedy, who won gold in Vancouver 2010 as part of skip Kevin Martin's rink. "I don't like seeing our curling knowledge going to other countries."

Since then, people have been sounding off on Kennedy's take.

Take for instance the story of J.D. Lind. He was born and raised in Calgary and was a competitive curler. Trying to qualify for the Brier in Alberta and going up against the like of Kevin Martin and Kevin Koe proved impossible for Lind so he moved to coaching.

Lind would have loved to coach in Canada — but Curling Canada wasn't calling, Japan was.

"There wasn't room for me and the only chance there was to do this full time was in Japan and I took it," Lind said.

In 2013 Lind became a curling coach in Japan. At that time he didn't really know what he was getting himself into.

"I knew they had never won a medal at worlds or the Olympics. For me my main motivation was being part of a group that finally broke through," he said.

There were growing pains but it didn't take long for the Canadian to help catapult the Japanese into an entirely new curling stratosphere.

Lind help guide the team he's still coaching today, skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa to the country's first-ever medal at the women's world championships – a silver in 2016. Two years after that, Lind also helped guide Fujisawa's team to an historic bronze medal at the 2018 Olympics.

"Their lives have changed for sure. They're celebrities back home," Lind said.

"When they got home in their home city from Pyeongchang they had 17,000 people show up for a parade for them. They're very famous back home."

And to Lind that's what this is all about — growing the game.

"I don't feel bad about doing that at all," he said. "I'm just trying to help my team. This team is like family to me. When people ask if I feel bad about coaching another country, for me they're my friends and we've been through so much together."

Making them nervous

Jamie Sinclair skips a team out of the United States. She burst onto the curling scene last season with the country's first-ever Grand Slam win.

Here's the catch. Despite Sinclair curling out of America now, she was born in Anchorage, Alaska but was raised in Ontario — Manotick, a suburb of Ottawa. In fact, Sinclair won a gold medal at the 2007 Canada Games as lead on a team skipped by Rachel Homan.

So what does the dual citizen make of the Kennedy's comments regarding the Canada first curling approach?

"The rest of the world is making them a little nervous," Sinclair said.

"I don't blame them for wanting to keep some of that for themselves. After the Olympics you get a little nervous so you want to protect what you have but we're just going to keep pushing boundaries."

Sinclair's team is coached by Canadian curler Bryan Cochrane. He's an Ontario skip who competed in the 2003 Brier. Cochrane also won the 2016 and 2018 Canadian Senior Curling Championships. 

"We've definitely dipped into the Canadian bucket a little bit but it's what helps grow the sport."

The American skip understands why some in Canada would be a little frustrated by Canadians leaving to help other countries. Sinclair says the country has had great success in the past but the new reality is the rest of the world is at Canada's level now.

"Canadian teams and Curling Canada has a swagger," she said "As athletes we want the best resources we can get in order to learn and be the best. If that involves bringing in a Canadian coach we're going to do what we have to do."

It goes 'both ways'

Longtime Scottish skip Eve Muirhead was quick to respond when asked about the Canadian content curling question.

"We have a Canadian coach. For the sport of curling to grow it's great. And look at Jennifer Jones team. She has a Swedish coach. So it's happening both ways," she said.

For the last number of seasons the great Canadian skip Glenn Howard has been coaching Muirhead's team.

Howard is unapologetic about helping the team. And Muirhead is as equally unapologetic about having him on their side.

"We're never going to regret having Glenn on our team. I'd rather have him in my corner rather than the Canadian corner," she said.

Muirhead will never forget the first time she got on the ice with the skip she grew up watching and learning the game from. She says there's no denying the skill of Canadians on the ice and admits to many of them helping grow the sport around the world.

"I'll be honest the first time I threw a rock at his broom I was super nervous," she laughed. "For years I've looked up to him and he's been someone I watched for years. You're throwing to someone who will tell you exactly how it is."

It's that straight-forward approach from Howard that Muirhead appreciates most. Now she wants to take in as much of that Canadian swagger and make it their own. 

"You know you're in for a tough one and get a little more nervous when you come up against the Canadians," Muirhead said. "That's what we want now."