Tenielle Bachek is the Junior Program Coordinator at the Okotoks Curling Club, in Okotoks, Alberta, just south of Calgary. Their situation was unique, because they ran youth programs last season and are running them again this season. In this episode, we talk about her opening day in October, the preparations she made to get things ready for her program, and the advice she would give to fellow organizers who want to re-open their youth curling programs this season.

Some of the topics we discuss:
* What happened in the 2020-2021 season? (1:57)
* How her program is structured (5:48)
* Some of the preparations she made prior to the 2021-22 season (9:05)
* What was "Day One" like? (12:16)
* COVID vaccination requirements for kids (14:49) and other COVID considerations (e.g., masks, distancing) (17:16)
* What does a typical U12/Little Rocks practice look like? (18:57)
* More details and excitement from "Day One" (23:15)
* Why an early safety review is important (27:58)
* Tenielle's goals for her program this season (30:46)
* Advice for fellow youth curling program organizers (31:30)

Links to the resources mentioned in this episode:

Okotoks Curling Club Web site:
https://okotokscurling.com/

"Women In Curling" Summit & Okotoks Jr. Curling Academy With Atina Ford Johnston
(Mar 28/21 episode of "Coaching Kids Curling")
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1048435/8218943

Tenielle's E-mail:
[email protected]

Follow our podcast on Twitter: @kidscurling

Glenn Gabriel is an NCCP-certified curling coach who lives in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. He has been the coordinator of the Little Rocks (U12) program at East York Curling Club in Toronto since 2011. If you have a question or feedback on the podcast, send us an e-mail at [email protected]

The intro and outro music is "Golden Sunrise (Instrumental Version)"
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/The_Wake_1790/JoshWoodward-TheWake-NoVox-10-GoldenSunrise

By Josh Woodward
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward

Licensed under CC BY 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Support the show