Safety first: Curl P.E.I. already putting helmets on kids

Curl P.E.I. already has rules requiring young curlers to wear helmets, in line with a recent Curling Canada recommendation.

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Sandy Matheson, the vice-president of Curl P.E.I, said staff at the Island's seven curling clubs requirecurlers in junior programs to wear protective head gear whileplaying.

Everybody is quite supportive of the notion.- Sandy Matheson, Curl P.E.I.

"We are all very conscious of safety on the ice," she said. "Kids of course are very free spirited and often don't have very much fear. But they are on ice,and if you take a fall you can hurt yourself."

While Matheson said there is some variation at each of the Island's curling clubs in terms what age-group should be required to wear helmets, each club iscommitted to keeping kids safe on the ice.

"Everybody is quite supportive of the notion that we would do what we can to make sure that risk for children is minimized," Matheson said.

Curling Canada's new policy asks that new and inexperienced players wear CSA-approved protective headgear. Matheson said this will help Island curling clubs give parents a better indication of the proper equipment to purchase for their children.

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