Girls Rock, presented by Scotties: Expanded on- and off-ice and mentorship program gives even more young girls a chance to try curling in a fun and inclusive way

“This was so much fun! We loved having girl coaches! We’re so excited to feel like real curlers!”

Those were just some of the enthusiastic reactions that came from young curlers in New Glasgow, N.S., who took part in Girls Rock – a program that gives girls aged 9-16 a chance to try curling in a fun and inclusive way.

Thanks to a partnership between Curling Canada and Kruger Products, more young girls have an opportunity to take part in the empowering female-led program. Through the funding initiative, 25 curling clubs across the country received $500 each to host a Girls Rock event.

As the title sponsor of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for 45 years, Kruger Products has been a longtime champion of women’s curling and supporting Girls Rock is just another example of their commitment.

“To have a partner and a brand that is so strongly aligned with women’s sport in such a strong position, to then turn around and say, we’re investing in girls and women at every level of this game, is huge,” says Brodie Bazinet, Curling Canada’s Director of Philanthropy & Youth Impacts.

Beyond their long-standing support for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Susan Irving, Chief Marketing Officer, Kruger Products, says the brand is dedicated to growing the sport of curling for the next generation of female curlers.

“This year marks the second year Kruger Products has served as the title partner of the Girls Rock program, and we recognize the pivotal role sports play in empowering young Canadians and why we’re passionate about expanding those opportunities in curling,” says Irving.

“Girls Rock will help to create accessible and inclusive opportunities for girls to explore their development through sport and promote friendship, leadership, and self-esteem by supporting girls’ physical, mental, social, and emotional development through play and teamwork.”

First launched ahead of the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the response to Girls Rock has been incredible.

“To have girls saying, I thought it’d be so hard, but I got out there and I just loved it. Or parents saying to see my daughter in an environment surrounded by girls and these incredible female leaders and just excelling, the feedback is constantly like that,” says Bazinet.

Girls Rock has been offered through Curling Canada’s For the Love of Curling Program since 2022, after being developed by the Women in Curling Executive Council to encourage more girls to get into the sport.

It was initially held only in the host cities of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, but became a national program two years ago, with each of Curling Canada’s provincial and territorial member associations offering at least one Girls Rock event per year.

The partnership with Kruger Products has allowed Girls Rock to expand its reach and impact.

More than 40 curling clubs applied for the funding in 2025, which also included digital resources to help market and operate the program.  With such strong interest, Bazinet says it’s very likely Girls Rock will be expanded to more clubs next year.

“If a club wants to engage girls in this sport, we want to say yes in every way. And so, we’ll look to streamline some of our efforts and extend that funding to more clubs next year,” says Bazinet.

She says it’s impressive to watch a group of girls over the course of a four-hour Girls Rock event step outside their comfort zone and make new friends.

“That’s what this program is. It’s social. It’s getting girls out of this preconceived idea of what sport is or how they even see themselves in participating or being an athlete,” says Bazinet.

Girls Rock a big hit in Nova Scotia

The Bluenose Curling Club in New Glasgow held a Girls Rock event in December 2025, and the response was overwhelming.

“We ended up with 14 girls that came out to the event – in a weather warning, which was great,” says Rachel Tree, Junior Director with the Juniors program.

“They get to see what curling actually is. It’s not as intimidating being on the ice as they think it’s going to be. We do everything from practice sliding, practice throwing, sweeping, in those four hours, we could go through the whole process.”

As a smaller club completely run by volunteers in a rural community, Tree says the Bluenose doesn’t get as many opportunities as bigger clubs in larger centres would, making the Girls Rock event even more important.

Of the 14 girls who participated, five girls went on to sign up for the full winter curling session, including Nicole Silva’s nine-year-old daughter Gracie, who had no prior exposure to the sport.

Silva says her daughter is on the shy side and asked to be picked up early from Girls Rock – just in case it didn’t go well.

“She really loved it … when I went back early to get her, she was having so much fun she didn’t want to leave and stayed for the whole session. The coaches were so kind and made her feel welcome,” says Silva.

“It was such an amazing, positive environment with curlers of all ages there supporting the participants. Lots of smiles, laughs and absolutely no judgment!” says another parent whose daughter participated in the Girls Rock event at the Bluenose Curling Club.

A lot of the young women from the Juniors program also helped out and found the experience very rewarding.

“They had so much fun teaching, especially because some of them know some of the kids that came,” says Tree.

“You could hear the girls really encouraging each other with every shot, whether it was close, a plan B or a complete miss,” adds one of the instructors. 

Girls Rock to inspire young curlers at the 2026 Scotties

As well as the curling clubs across the country offering the Girls Rock program, two larger-scale events were held in advance of the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Mississauga, Ont., at the Chinguacousy Curling Club and Dixie Curling Centre.

Not only did girls try curling, but they also met local and national women’s curling legends, had a chance to try on an Olympic medal and received a ticket to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

With such an exciting launch into the world of curling, could this inspire some young girls to continue on and one day compete at the Scotties?

“Maybe someday they’ll be playing in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, but Kruger Products has once again proven that it’s bigger than that. It is about creating a space for more girls and women to excel in their own definition of what that means inside of curling,” says Bazinet.