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November 1, 2005
IN THE NEWS...
Curling calendar creating stir
CBC Sports
Women's curling will be getting more attention in the coming weeks, but not in a way that many expect.
A new international calendar features nude and scantily clad female curlers.
The idea came from Ana Arce, a photographer who skipped three seasons for the Andorran women but has since moved to Spain.
"I think it's going to change the image of the sport which is not so nice," Arce, who also poses in the calendar, told The Canadian Press. "I've been playing for eight years and there are so many beautiful girls playing and nobody knows it.
"I doubt that anyone is going to be shocked and everybody's going to enjoy that and like it."
Curlers who pose in the Ana Arce Team Sponsorship Calendar 2006 will divide the proceeds.
Arce invited curlers she knew personally over the years, including Canadians Melanie Robillard of Ottawa and Lynsay Ryan of Kelowna, B.C.
Ryan, 21, is also the daughter of two-time world champion skip and 2006 Olympic hopeful Pat Ryan.
Ryan, who attends McMaster University in Hamilton, posed in July in a see-through sarong in the forest of Fussen, Germany.
"I sent him (her father) an e-mail," Ryan said with a laugh. "I thought it might be better if he read about it and had time to think about it before he replied."
Arce said she met Lynsay Ryan at a curling clinic in Germany and was astonished when the Canadian agreed to pose for the calendar.
"I thought she was going to say no because being Canadian I know it's more difficult," said Arce. "I think things are different for European girls.
"We are more open here a little less shy I think. But she said yes and she just wanted to check the pictures and everything was OK."
The 12 models that participated in the calendar represent curling teams from Denmark, Italy, Spain, England, Poland, Germany and Canada.
"Some of the girls showed a little bit more, like breasts, because they wanted to," Arce said of the black-white photos. "But it is very, very tasteful."
However, curling isn't the only sport that's had women posing in comparable calendars. The Canadian women's rugby, water polo and cross-country ski teams all have posed in similar fashion.
Other well-known Canadian female curlers didn't have a problem with the calendar but wouldn't participate.
"I couldn't, I'm too shy," said Jennifer Jones, the defending Scott Tournament of Hearts champion from Winnipeg. "It's very European.
"If the right people want to do it I think it's kind of a fun idea and innovative and hopefully it will get curling some publicity."
The calendar will cost
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