Healey's first law of politics springs to mind:

"When you get in a hole, stop digging."

What a silly thing to say, WS. I must tell you that the efforts we in the SCIG have made towards the building of a decent curling rink in Kinross have cost me alone well over £10,000. Can you say the same? And all we got for our trouble was the boot!

WS

If you are criticising me, I'll take you head on. I put time, and money that I could ill afford, into the support of the project. I have supported it fully by publicising your efforts from the start.

Recently though, it has become apparent just how flawed the project now is, and I've said so.

Take a good look at yourself, stop blaming others, dump the project now, and start again with a fresh effort to progress a replacement four sheet community rink for Kinross. You have my support for that, and I wish you every success in that effort.

Bob Cowan

Having read all the comments during the past year or so about KCT on this forum and on Bob's Blog I would like to comment. Bob Blog says "It's good to talk". Thats all I hear from the detractors, actions take a bit more guts. If the wider curling community had put SOME effort into this project then it would by now be a reality. Examples; Perth curlers asked not to support Kinross as it might impact on Perth (are they afraid of competition). Selling raffel tickets to a past RCCC president and former Scottish Champion, Quote " I'll buy one ticket" not one book for £5 but one ticket for £1. Here's an idea; will all the corresponents who have been critising KCT give £1 for every word they have written. Bob and his fellow trustees have put a great deal of their free time into this project and in the stringent economic times are doing their best to accomplish the origonal plans.         
 

But then DA somebodies ideas and kingdom might be ruined and how could they face their lemming like followers.
The whole idea should now be ditched and buried for dead.

gm ~ Much too simple a solution.

Getting these things off my chest is high on my agenda and an important part of the Forum. Of course I'd use the Button but I'd still feel obliged to open my mouth and let my belly rumble, if that's not too crude a synonym.

like...lol 

jjk, dunonrock, wee eddie, Yikkity, Sandy, outwick, John Minnaar.  I agree with most of what you have all contributed and it would be much easier if there were a 'like' button on this forum or a 'dislike' button for that matter.

Life is way too short to have this debate AGAIN.   In simplistic terms some of us (i.e me) think that the job of the RCCC should be to encourage and help facilitate mass participation in our sport (which would involve working with the external agencies to increase the accessibility of curling). My simplistic view is that more participants would naturally lead to strong teams representing the national team. The opposite view (I will call it Copey's view just to annoy him) is that funding selected elite athletes improves the nations performance and therefore the profile of the sport. The mantra on the rccc council when i was there was that "medals breed new curlers". I see absolutely no evidence of this. A country does not need more than a handful of particpants to achieve success at international level.

Of course these are polar opposites and I accept that the RCCC are wedged uncomfortably between a rock and a hard place. IF they were to tell the BOA and SIS etc to butt out they would have little credibility in the sporting world. However once the tail starts wagging the dog then the writing is on the wall and that is, I fear, where we are when selection processes like this are enforced. I am not involved at all in scottish youth curling but even i know of kids who have walked away from curling when they were shunted into the sidings while their curling buddies were selected (or even pre-ordained?) to jump aboard the train bound for Gravy.

Going slightly off topic I do find Copeys excellent 'behind the glass' articles stimulating however I do think his latest offering a bit strange. I think he is asserting that council run curling facilities are unfair because they have an advantage over privately funded rinks as they receive outside financial support and do not need to balance the books. Is this not EXACTLY the same unfairness as unfunded and unsupported curlers face when competing against academy curling teams?

The RCCC cannot sort this and the BOA and other outside agencies are doing what is best for them and are making an excellent job of turning out world class teams for scotland time after time. The real guilty ones are those curlers/ athletes who will not rock that boat onto which they desperately seek to climb aboard.  Until the players get together and insist on open and fair competition in national championships and a proper Olympic Qualifying Competition, and all the profile that would bring throughout the rest of the (current) country, the sport is heading for eliteness in perpetuity.  Or is it?   Curling funding after independence...there's a debate!  England for Olympic Gold in 2018 ?

Elite curling is now a young persons game.