Beacher Andrew Walker helping to make curling history as member of Jamaican national teams

By JOSHUA McGINNIS

While not a major sport in Jamaica, curling is slowly gaining ground — thanks in part to Andrew Walker, a 30-year resident of the Beach.

Driven by his passion and a desire to encourage others, he hopes to further promote the game in his home country.

Walker began curling 14 years ago after a gentle nudge from his wife.

“I discovered curling — well, I used to watch curling all the time for many, many years, and my wife one day frustratedly says, ‘You can’t sit on the couch and watch this without giving it a try.’”

Like many sports, strategy plays a significant role in curling, often likened to a game of chess. Walker said that’s what drew him to the sport.

“I’ve used this term many times before, even before I knew it was a thing — curling is like chess on ice; there is far more strategy than somebody looking on would imagine,” said Walker.

“You’ve got eight rocks to throw, but you only score when all eight from both teams are thrown. It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting with five points in the middle of the game — it’s what happens when the last rock is thrown.”

After joining The Super Fun Happy League, an amateur league affiliated with the Royal Canadian Curling Club on Broadview Avenue, Walker began to appreciate the sport on a deeper level.

“It was an instant love. I did have a hurdle that I had to overcome, which was during the process of learning. I kept slamming my knee into the ice, and it hurt so much. I put padding on it. I still kept doing it, and I said, you know, if this continues, I won’t be able to curl anymore. I came up with a plan to do a yoga lunge, get used to the position, and it completely worked,” he said.

Curling Jamaica, the official governing body for the sport, operates through host clubs across Ontario, including the Royal Canadian Curling Club on Broadview Avenue. It fields national teams in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles categories.

Previously, Jamaica had no representation in international curling. That changed when Ben Kong, a Jamaican-Canadian, contacted Walker while seeking curlers of Jamaican descent interested in forming a national team.

After locating players across Canada, Kong, Walker and others built Jamaica’s first curling team. The squad gained official recognition in 2022, becoming the 67th member nation of the World Curling Federation.

Since then, Jamaica has competed in several international events, including the Pan Continental Curling Championships Qualifier, where the women’s team won silver two years in a row, narrowly missing qualification for the main event.

Walker sees his involvement in Jamaican curling as an opportunity to show communities that the sport is accessible to everyone.

“Our club did an outreach to some schools. After curling one day, a young girl of colour came up and said, ‘I wasn’t going to come today. I came because my friends were coming, but then I saw you, and I got out on the ice.’ She saw somebody like herself curling, and that changed her whole perspective. It felt really heartwarming to inspire that one person. And if she turns out to be a great curler in the future or whatever else, she knows there’s no barrier above her to achieve that right now.”

In recent decades, Jamaica has gradually increased its involvement in winter sports. The country made history with its famous four-man bobsled team at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics and has since pursued opportunities in ice hockey, alpine skiing and other events. However, Jamaica still lacks the infrastructure required for many of these sports.

Walker remains an active member of Jamaica’s mixed doubles and men’s national curling teams roster. Both he and the organization are now focusing on youth development, recognizing its importance to the sport’s future.

“One of the focuses of the organization going forward is to seek out, identify and encourage more Jamaican youth to get involved in curling,” he said. “It’ll take two things to get Jamaica in the Olympics — the organization being able to inspire new curlers, and funding to support what is a fledgling program right now.”

While helping to grow the sport, Walker continues to cherish his time on the ice.

“Since when you play sports you always dream of doing it at the highest level, no matter what your skill level happens to be. And at the ripe old age — or young age — of 60, to have the opportunity to curl for your country is like unbelievable, truly.”

Jamaica’s national curling teams have made a strong impression on the international stage since their debut. At the 2024 Pan Continental Curling Championships Qualifier in Lacombe, Alta., the men’s team finished the round robin with an 8–2 record, while the women’s team went 5–2 and claimed a silver medal, narrowly missing qualification for the main event. 

“Rest assured, Jamaica will be in the curling Olympics,” said Walker.