I really enjoyed my visit to Oestersund in 2008 for the World Junior Championships. Aside from the local monster and the moose cuddling (see here and here), the competition was well organised in a great facility. The 2012 World Junior Curling Championships return to the Swedish town this year. Play begins on Saturday, and Scotland is represented by the teams skipped by Hannah Fleming and Kyle Smith. The women have Norway and Canada on Saturday, and the men play Finland in their only draw on the first day. The full preview is here, and the event website is here. Find the draw here.I'll not be in Sweden this time, but I'm excited by the news that the World Curling Federation will broadcast some of the games via its YouTube Channel. The schedule is here, and I see that the Sco v Can women's game in Saturday's evening draw is the featured game. This is a great initiative, although I do have my fingers crossed that my experience with the webcasts will be better than it was with the Eurosport Player for the Europeans. Webcasting of curling events is in its infancy, but I believe it is the way the sport has to go. Laola1.tv has set the standard this season.
I suspect I may well spend many hours next week glued to my computer screen!
