Great Britain’s first curling academy has been opened to "help to build on the nation’s Olympic success," according to Paul Ward of the LONDON TIMES. The £3.15M ($4M) facility in Stirling will ensure that Team Scotland, Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes and community players "have year-round access to a high-quality ice rink." In '14, the British men’s team won a Silver Medal and the women took Bronze in the Sochi Winter Olympics. Eve Muirhead, who won Bronze three years ago and will lead the women's '18 team in PyeongChang, said, "Video will be available so that you can analyze your game right down to the tiniest margins. It’s fantastic turning up to training knowing that you have this facility on your doorstep and it has made a big difference to us already" (LONDON TIMES, 8/24). In Glasgow, Kevin Ferrie reported the rink was a project that "looked to have stalled 18 months ago." That led British 2014 Olympic curler Dave Murdoch to call on the Scottish Government and sportscotland to "make good on their word." Work finally began on the project last season (HERALD SCOTLAND, 8/23).
