Growing curling in England has to be a big long term goal for the sport.
I can’t see it ever being part of the national culture like it is north of the border or in Canada but, from my own point of view, I think there has been progress.
The difference in the levels of interest from my first Olympics to my second was enormous.
After Sochi, I was even getting recognised in the street when I was seeing family in England!
I guess the ultimate goal would be getting young English curlers who were challenging for the Olympics.
If Scotland can have a player who is on the verge of becoming the best tennis player in the world then it has to be possible.
Today, I’ve been in London for the launch of a roof top curling rink.
Sliders is at the Stratford Shopping Centre in the east of the city and I can safely say that in all my years involved in the sport, curling on top of a building is a new one!
Something like this would never have happened a few years ago, and I really hope it’s a success and people get the curling bug.
I’ve always done whatever I can to promote the sport in England and I’ll keep doing it. But, I suppose the best way would be to bring back a gold from the next Olympics!
* The trip down south worked out well for me because I was heading down to Southampton for my grandad’s 90th birthday.
This is the last break before we go to Switzerland next week and after that we’re into the European Championships at Braehead.
We were knocked out earlier than we would have liked in the Grand Slam event in Canada last week but there’s certainly no panic.
If I’m honest, I don’t think I really expected us to do too well.
Anna had missed nine tournaments and I think we’ve had about five different line-ups in the time she’s been injured.
There was no consistency.
So having Anna back was great, no matter what the result was. She’s a really important part of our team.
It’s been a case of adapting back to our old roles and we got a lot out of the tournament.
We know what we need to work on in Switzerland.
It’s been a good season so far in the circumstances. We’re in a good place.
And I’m hopeful that we’ll see the team gelling well again by the time the Europeans come round in a couple of weeks.
* There will certainly be a few more Scots in London this time next week, that’s for sure.
A Scotland v England football match at Wembley is always a big deal.
Scotland will always be underdogs against England in pretty much every sport (apart from curling!)
The less said about the pink tops we’ll be wearing, the better, but when the game kicks off that won’t matter.
And, if we win, I bet there will be a few of them bought for Christmas pressies!
