As the current face of Scottish curling, Bruce Mouat is a man with a lot to think about.
There is the imminent defence of his Scottish Championship title. Then, if all goes to plan, the defence of the world title his rink won for the first time last year.
The halfway mark to the next Winter Olympics has arrived, too. So there is the ongoing process to arrive in Milan in 2026 in top form, so he can upgrade his silver medal from Beijing to a gold.
But closer to home, there is the battle to make sure the next Bruce Mouat or Eve Muirhead have a pathway to success. The fight to save curling’s future.
The surge in energy costs in the past two years have put ice rinks across the nation under severe pressure.
Ayr Ice Rink, which hosted 500 curlers, closed last autumn because of financial problems and only an almighty scrap and intervention from Muirhead and others prevented the Dewars Centre in Perth going the same way last month.
With the number of ice rinks in the country now down at just 21, curling’s future is in the balance.
“It’s very concerning for all curlers across the country because energy prices mean we’re having to hike prices up in in our local rinks, which means that for every game a local club curler goes and plays they might be spending three or four pounds more, over four or five games a week,” Mouat says.
“It’s quite a big increase for an individual to have to pay. So they might be attracted by another sport to go and try that one. So it’s quite a scary situation.”
Solutions are not easy, nor plentiful. With curling only really given UK-wide attention every four years at the Olympics, that puts pressure on those such as Mouat to succeed, and therefore inspire others to get into the sport.
“It comes with the role,” he says. “I’ll promote it to the end of my days. I love the sport, it’s been an amazing social thing for me as well as a day job. I’ve met so many friends that I still have to this day. It’s been a very family orientated sport for me, and that’s what curling is.
“It was really nice to see that there was so many people that banded together to help save Perth. It might have to happen for other rinks down the line. But I’m sure it will happen exactly the same, a lot of people band together.
“Hopefully, we can continue to see all these rinks stay open and encourage recreational curling.”
