Visual impairment doesn't stop Stratford curler

Shawny Ross carries a big stick and she's not afraid to use it - at the curling rink, that is.
The legally blind curler from Stratford uses a curling cue to guide her shots at the Charlottetown Curling Club and the recent transplant from Ontario is hoping to coerce other blind or visually impaired Islanders into the sport with a demonstration Sunday at 4 p.m. at the club.
All with an eye to sending the first P.E.I. team to the National Vision Impaired Championship Bonspiel in her hometown of Ottawa, Feb. 1-7 (it's sponsored by the Canadian Council of the Blind and sanctioned by the Canadian Curling Association) while prepping for a larger stage.
"Participating in the nationals is really the drive,'' said Ross. "The ultimate goal is the paralympics.''
Diabetes complications took Ross' sight about 12 years ago. After resisting constant but loving haranguing from husband Dave, who works at CGI in Stratford and is an avid curler and coach, to try curling, Shawny relented in 2002 and joined a 30-year-old blind curling league in Ottawa.
She was hooked after her first shot.
"(Dave said) 'that's perfect. If you could throw that all the time, you'd be a perfect lead'.''
Ross uses a cue which attaches to the stone's handle. It's like an extension of the handle and requires light touch. She's working on the traditional slide delivery, but currently she walks out and releases before the first hog line. Other curlers are comfortable with the standard release.
Once curlers are in the hack and either standing or crouched, sighted guides relay information like the skip's broom position, when the curlers shoulders are square to the rings and where the hog line is before they glide past it. But they can't touch, coach or slip the curler strategic tips.
"They are really a verbal broom,'' said the 33-year-old Ross.
Ross hoped visually impaired curling might be a demonstration sport at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, but that's unlikely now because of rules wrangling at the World Curling Federation. She said deciding if all blind curlers should slide versus walk to deliver a rock is just one of the bugaboos holding up its progress.
But for now she'd be happy with a P.E.I. entry at the nationals in February, which has already attracted rinks from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador in its five-year existence.
Plus, at the grassroots, it's fun and accessible for a segment of society which can be isolated, she said.
"The social aspect is phenomenal. This is a way of getting out and meeting people,'' said Ross. "The foundation of the delivery and the game are the same. In my experience, curlers have always been friendly and welcoming.''
Register for Ross' demo at 367-2790 or shawny@eastlink.ca.