Jill Richard oversees Curling Alberta through tough time
The tireless Richard arrived at a job that did not exist before, with the ultimate goal of building a showcase event for the province that had become internationally known as the curling capital of the world.
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On the same day the International Ice Hockey Federation’s world junior gold medal game was scheduled to be played in Edmonton, Jill Richard celebrated her 39th birthday on Wednesday in Grande Prairie.
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On the same day, new IIHF president Luc Tardif decided to cancel his annual 10-team holiday world hockey tournament, Richard, general manager of Curling Alberta, after two years of creating a championship. Provincial Combined Men’s and Women’s Curling, took a deep breath and said, hell no, his show was still going to be launched.
By Sunday, Richard could have a double triumph worthy of an important celebration at a time in Canadian sporting history where women find important non-traditional roles.
At a time when curling competitions are called off in dozens of different directions, including Canada’s Olympic mixed doubles qualifiers in Portage LaPrairie, Man., Last week, and the February Canadian U-18s in Timmins, Ont. ., announced on Tuesday, its New Alberta Combined Celebration of Sport took off on Monday as a kind of flight from the Phoenix.
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It came about because Curling Alberta took a shot at a sports freak from the hamlet of Calihoo, 51 km northwest of Edmonton, four years ago.
Curling Alberta needed someone with a lot of determination and decided to end the 100 Year War between the Northern Alberta Curling Association, the Southern Alberta Curling Association and the regional bodies of the Peace Curling Association to do just one thing. one with Richard at the helm.
The indefatigable Richard arrived at a job that did not exist before, with the ultimate goal of building a showcase event for the province that had become internationally known as the Curling Capital of the World due to the filling of NHL buildings for the Briers, Olympic Trials and World Championships.
It was not as easy as it sounds. The point is, while Alberta could fill Rexall Place and the Saddledome for the big event, the province continued to find itself in rinky-dink curling rinks for the provincial championships. It was embarrassing.
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But on Saturday, live from Grande Prairie, the women’s and men’s semi-finals will air on Sportsnet One and Sunday’s finals will be broadcast on the four major regional channels, including SN West.
What you’ll see on weekends when you turn on your TV are four patches of ice with more sponsorship logos than a Prague hockey game, remarkably well presented without giant Tim Hortons coffee mugs between the pork lines. and the house.
The 2,800-seat Bonnett’s Energy Center is an excellent venue, limited by provincial government decree to 50 percent of its capacity without food or drink, but with a social ‘skate’ at the adjacent rinky-dink curling rink, where provincials were previously. held here in 1999 and my cousin the mayor of Grande Prairie pretty damn kicked me out of town for calling it a rinky-dink curling rink every day.
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So who is Jill Richard? And how did this happen?
She says she’s still that crazy sports girl from Calahoo.
“I have just had a passion for sport for a long time. I grew up playing whatever I could convince my parents to sign up for, which is about seven sports a year.
“I have played many competitive sports including hockey, tennis, squash, softball, ringette, badminton and volleyball. I have been provincial champion several times in all sports, but I never managed to win a national title until this summer, when I started playing pickleball, ”added the wife of the player from Royal Glenora senior professional tennis player, Lance Richard.
You won’t notice any mention of curling in there.
The turning point in her career, you must also know, is when she got pregnant.
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“After 10 years at Tennis Alberta, when I got pregnant with our daughter, Riley, I convinced myself that I was going to take the time to focus on being a mom. It was while I was on maternity leave that Curling Alberta made an announcement for a GM.
“At the start of my research, I discovered that the organization was at a crucial point, near the finish line of a major merger. I just knew I wanted to be involved in this experience.
Richard admits that when IIHF President Tardif unplugged the World Junior Championship, she had a “Whoa” moment.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried when the world junior championship was called off. But we took our example from the province and the health authorities, ”she said.
Still, it was a courageous enough decision to move forward.
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“Throughout the pandemic, our approach has been to move forward as long as we can operate within health regulations and feel truly confident in the safety of the environment ourselves.
“Now that the majority of Albertans are vaccinated and we have our own vaccination policy in effect at our events, I have always been given the green light to move forward.
“One of the values of the new organization is fearless leadership.
“In my team at Curling Alberta, we are always looking to be brave and get the job done. We are here to serve our clubs and curlers, but we also have a responsibility to the community at large. And I believe sport plays an important role in our recovery from the pandemic. “
Damn, I would have liked to have introduced Luc Tardif to this lady.
Email: tjones@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @byterryjones
