There are not many sports where three generations of a family can play on a team together.
But the Belway family of Salmon Arm can do just that when they take to the ice at the Salmon Arm Curling Club.
Curling is one of a very few athletic events where people from four to 94 can get out on the ice and enjoy the sport at a variety of levels.
Dave Belway Sr. and his son, Dave Belway Jr., have now been joined on the ice by 10-year-old Maya and, new to the sport this year will be, four-year-old Callie.
Belway Sr. has been putting the broom on the ice for more than 50 years, as he started curling in Salmon Arm back when the curling club was located where the Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union now stands. A bunch of friends encouraged him to give the game a try and he was immediately attracted by the game of strategy, like “chess on ice” and the camaraderie of the sport.
“And I showed some talent for it, so that kept me interested,” says the elder Belway.
Belway continued to curl and was later joined on the ice by his daughter Karen and son Dave, who he says took to the game “like a duck to water.”
Belway Sr. thought he might have to hang up his broom after knee replacement surgery made it too difficult to bend down into the hack to throw his rocks. But after taking a year off, and missing the game, Belway Sr. is now part of the new wave of senior curlers who are using a special stick to throw their rocks. This allows the curler to remain standing while throwing.
“The stick has brought a lot of older people back to curling. In the senior leagues now, you are seeing half-and-half using the stick and not.”
Belway Jr. says curling was always a part of family life growing up.
His dad became a coach as one of Salmon Arm’s first junior teams grew into a competitive venture.
Belway Jr. and his team began to reach the provincial level and competed at the Winter Games.
“It was some real father-son times for us. It still is. We’ve curled out-of-town and bonspieled together. We still curl together sometimes,” says Belway Jr.
The fact that curling is a game that can be picked up and played at any level from simple recreation to full-out competitive is another bonus.
When life got busy with the addition of children, Belway Jr. took time away from competitive curling, but still curled for fun and exercise. Now that time demands allow, he has returned to a more competitive level. Last year, he was picked up by another team to join them at the provincial level.
Now the father-son connection has another generation joining them.
Maya, a South Broadview student, has been curling since she was five as part of the club’s junior program and is also part of a recently formed inter-city junior curling league.
She says watching her father, mother and grandfather play sparked her interest.
“I just wanted to try it too,” she says. “I like being the skip, I like throwing the rocks and knowing that I can make the shot to win the game.”
Maya says she gets tips from her family members.
“The best tip was from my dad, who told me to always slide flat foot, not on my toes like I was doing it.”
Belway’s four-year-old daughter hasn’t played a game yet, but she already has her first curling trophy — for being the best spectator at her sister’s games.
“She came out to every one to watch, so we gave her a trophy at the end of the year,” says Maya. “Now she’s going to play too.”
Public invited
to check it out
The Salmon Arm Curling Club offers a variety of leagues both daytime and evening for all age groups.
Everyone is welcome to come watch a game or try out the sport. Costs are minimal, as shoes and brooms can be borrowed on a trial basis.
For more information, contact the club at 250-832-8700.