A SCOTS curling star wants to seize the opportunity to get more people interested in the sport.
Aberdeen is set to host the World Mixed Curling Championship this weekend, where Scotland will face Hungary in their opening match.
Robyn Munro, 19, from Stranraer will be playing lead for the team, a position she is both nervous and excited to be taking on.
She told The National: “I’ve always skipped, which has more of a dictator role, but the lead is so important because they are the first ones to throw.
“They have the power as to how the end pans out. It’s a very specialist position and I’m the most nervous I’ve ever been before.”
The fact curling has played such a huge role in her life is of little surprise to Munro. Her cousins, Grant Hardie and Hamilton McMillan, were both silver medallists in Beijing this year.
It all started when Munro’s grandparents returned from living in Canada and discovered a hotel in Stranraer was going to be demolished.
“They came over and weren’t having it”, Munro said.
“They built the North West Castle Hotel and then they heard people were travelling to Ayr to curl so my grandpa said they would make an ice rink and it became the first hotel in the world to have one.
“My mum is still the ice rink manager to this day. I was in Italy watching her when I was 16 years old. I had travelled the world to see curling before I’d ever even stepped on the ice.”
She admits curling is a small world, as her mum also coached Bobby Lammie, another silver medallist at this year’s Olympics.
Munro hopes the success of both Team GB’s men and women at this year’s Winter Olympics can be the catalyst for more people taking an interest in the sport.
“I was watching those games with my flatmates who had no idea about curling but ended up screaming at the TV”, she said.
Munro added: “Over Covid and stuff, we found it difficult to get people in, but hopefully, we can do some good things now.
“I remember watching Grant and Hamilton’s following just go up. Obviously Eve [Muirhead] already had a huge following, and I think from that success, we have an opportunity to promote the sport and get people into it.
“I want people to know about curling, and for people to come and watch when they can, and to have a world championships on the front doorsteps, it’s so great. I feel so honoured to be competing in it.”
The team playing this weekend earned the right to compete in the tournament when they clinched the Scottish mixed title in April earlier this year, where they went undefeated throughout.
Munro was also part of Team GB when they claimed gold at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in 2019.
She plays third for Team Henderson, who is yet to lose a game this season, in the Scottish Under 21s series.
Asked about the team’s goals for this weekend, she said: “Cameron Bryce, the skip, is so determined to do well. I think because we’re on a home rink we can’t be going for anything less than a medal.
“You do still need to take it game by game, though. Our goal is to get to the playoffs, and then hopefully, we can grab a medal.”
Scotland is set to face several teams including Luxembourg, Austria and Mexico. There’s one game in particular that the lead is looking forward to, though.
She said: “We’re playing England and that’s the one I’m looking forward to because I’ve never played them before.
“I also never get a chance to play against men, so I’m looking forward to that.
“There is an element of the unknown, but they also don’t know a huge amount about us. You just have to take each team as four players throwing eight stones.”
On a personal note, the tournament has added value for Munro as it’s the first time she’ll have Scotland on her back.
“Everyone else on the team has represented Scotland at this level. I thought I was going to need to get my mum’s kit out for 2008 because I’d never had Munro on my back.
“It’s finally my chance, and it’s going to be great to experience the pressure this weekend.”
