Mike Ferguson to be international representative

Congratulations to Mike Ferguson (left) on being selected to be one of the Royal Club's representatives on the international federations. Applications were invited back in July and I wrote about that here.

The announcement was made on the Royal Club website on Friday and reads, "Following a selection process that was completed on 9th August we are pleased to announce that Mike Ferguson (Edzell Curling Club) will be joining Hew Chalmers, Edith Loudon and Bruce Crawford as the fourth current international representative for the Royal Club, at European and World Curling Federations meetings. Mike has a wealth of business experience in the insurance and investment sectors but is also the owner of Forfar Ice Rink and was chairman of the Royal Club’s board of directors from 2005-08. Mike’s experiences in working with the media, marketing, public speaking and negotiating will equip him well in representing the Royal Club at an international level."

Mike says, "I am delighted to have been offered the opportunity to represent the Royal Club and its members in this important role.

I applied for the position, as I genuinely believe in the important role the RCCC has to play in the development of the modern game. As the Mother Club the Royal Club has to steer a tough route between using its experience of the sport gained over many years to influence the direction of the ECF/WCF whilst at the same time building relations with fellow member countries.

I believe the Royal Club has to play a strong role in helping to shape the rules and the future structure of the ECF/WCF to ensure that the sport is fit for the 21st century and to achieve this it is important to work as a team with the other Scottish reps to lobby and network in a consistent manner.

I have already started pulling together the information I need to enable me to get up to speed as quickly as possible and certainly in advance of the external relations committee in September."

The photo of Mike is from 2007 when he was Chairman of the Royal Club Board and is © Skip Cottage.

Representing Scotland on the World and European Curling Federations

Do you have the qualifications to represent Scottish Curling interests on the World Curling Federation and European Curling Federation?

The Royal Club has four representatives at WCF meetings. These are appointed by, and report to, the Royal Club’s Board of Directors. The Chief Executive is a fixed appointment and the other three representatives are appointed for a period of three years. Some years ago, the latter positions were opened up to the membership at large, to ensure the most suitable candidates could be appointed, even if they were not already involved in the hierarchy of the Royal Club. Hew Chalmers was the first to be appointed from the general membership, and more recently Edith Loudon was the second appointment made in this way. There is one vacancy available, since Jeanette Johnston has completed two terms, and nominations are being sought for this post.

So, do you feel you have the qualifications to do the job for Scotland in the international political arena? Your responsibilities would be to attend and contribute to meetings which may take about eight days per year. These mainly coincide with World and European Championships. You would need to attend and contribute to the External Relations Committee of the Royal Club. Your responsibility would be to represent the views of the Royal Club Board and members at the WCF/ECF and try to influence decisions favourably for Scotland. You would have to be in a position to inform the Royal Club Board of WCF/ECF issues, developments and decisions which are likely to affect Scotland, and to contribute to the WCF/ECF report to the Royal Club’s AGM. You would have the responsibility to build relationships with representatives from other member associations to promote and sustain the position of the Royal Club as the ‘mother club of curling', as well as playing an active part in committees, work groups or projects as required by WCF/ECF.

There's more about applying for the position here, and you have until Friday, August 5, to do so. You need to be a member of the Royal Club, have in depth knowledge of the Royal Club’s policies/practices/organisation of curling in Scotland, extensive knowledge of international competition, and an understanding of elite athlete issues. You will have good communication and presentation skills and the ability to network and influence. You need to have credibility as an international ambassador for Scotland with the membership of the Royal Club.

Travel and accommodation for meetings is paid by the Royal Club through support from UK Sport.

I asked Hew Chalmers how he viewed the past few years. He responded, "Yes, I have really enjoyed being a rep. The WCF is working well and does a great deal for curling. It is now led by some very good people. The individual countries reps are also much more knowledgeable and has as a result created much better debate, especially around competitions and governance."

So, what sort of person would be a good fit to the position available? Hew says, "The ideal person to come on as a new rep would require to have the time to attend the two major championships, the Europeans and the Worlds, and have the ability to network well with other people to help bring people onside when and if you require support for something."

Edith notes that potential representatives, "... will need to be able to give up a fair bit of time to travel to all the meetings. I would say there are now past international curlers coming into the frame as reps so it would be good to get a mix of experienced people."

The representatives are volunteers and are not paid. As noted above some funding comes from UK Sport. Through an 'influencing strategy, those at UK Sport like to see the people they invest in coming through sports into leadership positions where they are then able to influence their sport, for example, in helping to bring major sporting events to the UK. Hew's appointment to the Board of the British Olympic Association (see here) can certainly be seen as a positive outcome that their strategy is working.

Mind you, being an international representative , however interesting, may not always be easy. The difficulties faced by the European Curling Federation in the past couple of years, culminating in the resignation of the president, are an example. One only has to read between the lines of the recent meeting of the ECF Executive Board in Munich (see the report here) to imagine the many headaches for those involved!

European Curling Federation News

Andrew Ferguson-Smith (left) may well have been re-elected President of the European Curling Federation unopposed last December but it was very apparent at Champery that all was not well with the body that represents European curling and organises the European Mixed and European Championships. You can read what I wrote at the time here, and there's other information from John Brown here.

Now, I have no idea what has been happening 'behind the scenes' but I learned today that Andrew has resigned. This can only be good for the organisation, although his enthusiasm will be hard to replace.

What of the future? A rather terse statement on the ECF's website reads, "The ECF Executive Board will meet on July 2-3, 2011 at Munich, Germany and will put in place measures that will help drive the ECF forward for our associations at this point in time."

Photo of Andrew Ferguson-Smith is © Skip Cottage

More off the ice from Esbjerg

How does the idea of an European Centre of Curling Excellence in Champery sound to you? John Brown reports on what has been happening behind the scenes with the European Curling Federation in Toothy Tales here, or click on the link on the right.

Fascinating! Many thanks John for posting this.

Leslie Ingram-Brown captured this candid shot of John, sitting with English Curling Association President Alison Arthur, yesterday. Yes, I think this could certainly be a caption competition pic!

Photo courtesy of Leslie Ingram-Brown

Turkey's curlers for Greenacres

The Turkish Curling Association has entered both men's and women's teams for the European Championships C Division competition. The World Curling Federation's newest member will make its debut alongside Croatia, France, Ireland, Serbia and Slovakia in the women's competition, and with Belarus, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Serbia and Slovakia in the men's event.

The draw is online here. The competitions, at the Greenacres rink in Renfrewshire, run from Saturday, September 25 to Tuesday, September 28. The top two teams will qualify to compete in the B Division of the Le Gruyere European Championships, Champery, Switzerland, December 3-11.

This will be the first time that a C Division has been organised. Ten teams will play in A Divisions and sixteen in B Divisions at the Euros in December.

The Greenacres rink is also the venue for the European Mixed Championship, September 21-25.

The Big Cheese

I don't believe in co-incidence, but I had just finished eating a cheese sandwich at lunchtime today (Le Gruyère of course - I always try to support curling sponsors, hope you do too!), when in my email is an announcement from Infront Sports & Media that Le Gruyère AOC
Switzerland is to sponsor the European Curling Championships for the next two years. A bit spooky, especially as I don't have a cheese sandwich for my lunch very often!

The sponsorship covers Aberdeen (December 4-12) of course, as well as Champery in Switzerland in 2010.

The press release (which you can read here in full) includes, "The brand will have title rights as follows: Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2009 in Aberdeen (Scotland) and the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2010 in Champéry (Switzerland). The entire Eurosport TV inventory will belong to Le Gruyère AOC Switzerland and the advertising opportunities will be optimized, including a new positioning to the under-ice advertising which gives better visibility."

Philippe Bardet, Director of Le Gruyère, said, "There is an excellent fit between curling and Le Gruyère AOC Switzerland, which is why we have supported this sport for so many years. With our home base in Switzerland, this association gives us a great opportunity to support the event all over Europe and emphasis the unique Swiss appeal of the brand. Great Britain is also an important market for us and we will activate our broad range of rights on-site."

Now, listen up, here are the important facts for the next time you are tucking into a cheese sandwich. Le Gruyère AOC is a hard cheese produced in the western part of Switzerland, with a characteristic taste obtained from the best quality unpasteurized milk coming straight from cows grazing on grass. Depending on the age of the cheese, which has a maturation time between five and eighteen months, it develops more and more character. The cheese is produced with the milk of 2,800 milk producers, manufactured by 185 cheese makers and sold by ten refiners. The name is derived from the region of Gruyère in the Swiss Canton of Fribourg, the historic capital and the site of the medieval castle of the counts of Gruyère. The product was first referred to in the writings of Count Guillaume de Gruyère in 1115, and was first called Gruyère in 1602.
For further information go here.

Skip Cottage Curling, just your average 'educational' curling blog!

Ah yes, expect an announcement of the draw for the Aberdeen European Championships soon (perhaps here on the event website) as ECF delegates are meeting in Prague today. Another thing on their agenda is to decide how the European Championship should be organised in the future.