With a little help, Tim Prohaszka throws a rock at Highland Curling Club in London, Ont.
The blind curler is part of the London Vision Impaired Curling (LVIC) team headed to Edmonton, Alta. for the upcoming national tournament.
“We played in Parasport in Oshawa and won, so now we’re going to Edmonton,” said Prohaszka.
The game is similar to traditional curling, except in this version, players have a guide to help them line up their shot.
“I set them up in the hack,” said Jim Lalonde, a guide and coach with LVIC.
He continued, “Some of them use a push stick, some of them are able to get down into the hack and throw a rock the old fashioned way. I guess the stick is for the ones that are totally blind. So you just line them up, point them in the right direction, tell them which turn to make and let them go.”
Prohaszka is totally blind, yet is able to throw the traditional style. Others will use a light on the guide’s broom, and some guides will tap the ice so the curler knows where to start the shot.
Tim admitted it did take him a long time to figure out how hard to throw the rock.
“My brother drove me to Kitchener to play because we knew there was visually impaired curling there,” said Prohaszka. “After about four years of driving back and forth a couple of times a week, we decided to start something up here [in London]. We got like 10 players the first year but now we're up to 16.”
Lalonde and the five team members will head to Edmonton to not only compete, but enjoy bonding and social time as a team.
A curler out of the Ilderton Curling Club, Lalonde said he thoroughly enjoys coaching and guiding this team.
“It’s a lot of fun,” heLalonde. “These guys have a good sense of humor, and it gets them out of their place. “It just makes me feel good to be able to help.”
