Fan of the Month: Max Minagawa
Above: Max Minagawa, from Leaside Curling Club in Toronto.
Above: Max assisting with the ice-making process in Japan.
About Max
From: Toronto, Ontario
Home Club: Leaside Curling Club
Occupation: IT Architect
Years Curling: 14 years
Question (Q): What has been your favorite Curler Outreach webinar?
Max Minagawa (MM): Mixed Doubles w/ Carey-Hodson, Resilience, Adaptive Curling, Five Rock Rules, Diversity Panel
Q: Do you have any special roles at your club, or leagues/spiels you regularly enjoy?
MM: I don't have any official roles, but I enjoy volunteering at various club events, and meet & help other curlers in any capacity.
Q: How did you find curling?
MM: I live within walking distance of one of the clubs and a friend asked me if I wanted to try. That was an LGBTQ league, by the way. ;-) They have beginner’s clinics and welcome completely new curlers. I didn't curl seriously first, but after three years or so I also joined another league, started to learn more about curling, and that's when all the fun began.
Later on, I was very lucky to be able to join Leaside, and before long I was curling in various leagues. When you curl four times a week, it becomes part of life.
Q: Best moment of curling in your life- on or off the ice.
MM: I was born and raised in Japan and moved to Canada 23 years ago. I started to curl only in Canada, but one of my bucket list items was to go to Japan for curling.
I didn't know any curlers in Japan, but in 2016 I asked around on social media, and a nice group of people kindly invited me to join their team for a bonspiel in Nagano (‘98 Winter Olympic Games site). Little did I know was the fact that team's skip, Hiro Kashiwagi, was a former national and junior national champion, and together with his wife, Yumiko, they also won a national mixed doubles championship. They are serious curlers. We had amazing fun at the spiel and the party. I had a chance to meet Team Koana as well. Also, we had an opportunity to stop by at another local curling facility and help them with ice making.
Curlers are universally nice people and I'm glad I could connect with many local curlers. And they are very enthusiastic curling fans. They follow not only Japanese teams but also many teams across the world and follow every event. Fans show up at events, cheer top teams, and shower them with gifts & arts such as photographs and portrait paintings. Elite teams are treated like rock stars.
Above: Throughout his curling career, Max has made friends far and wide.
Above: Max spends some quality time with our very own Team Senneker!
(Continued) MM: Fast forward to recent years, I had opportunities to volunteer at a Grand Slam event in Toronto. Seeing top level curling up-close was exciting. I sat next to Wayne Middaugh for two hours during a Hasselborg game (I was focusing on my timer duty and couldn't say much). At another game, I was sitting besides a scoreboard for the Gushue-Epping game and waiting for the game to start. Without warning, Brad Gushue approached me and shook my hand saying "Hi, I'm Brad. What's your name?". I was completely caught off guard. What came out of my mouth was a high-pitch voice "Huh?" LOL!
Later on, my Japanese curling-enthusiast friend told me about an interesting team called Team Senneker and that I should follow them. I found that they were competing in southern Ontario and I had a chance to go watch games and meet them in person. What a fun team to watch. I became a big fan and my Japanese friends are asking me how the team is doing.
There are so many good curling moments and I can't choose which one is the best- but getting involved in curling is very special to me.
Q: Do you have any personal curling goals for the future?
MM: Curling has become diverse. Team Senneker has a fan base in Japan! How awesome is that!?
But I still want to see curling become even more diverse locally. Curling should be a welcoming and safe place for anyone regardless of background or abilities, and not a place to exclude someone who may seem different.
Q: Especially in these uncertain times, what does being a curler mean to you?
MM: The pandemic has been tough for everyone. We all suffered big time. I'm very impressed with and thankful to all the curling friends who reached out to me and interacted with me in various ways. We had an online bonspiel. I was blessed with friends that I could connect with regularly, either in outdoor social distance walks, or social zoom meetings. Curlers are amazing people.
Q: Anything else you'd like folks to know?
MM: I'm very lucky to live in Toronto, where 20+ curling facilities are within driving distance. We are blessed.
But few clubs in the area have closed their doors in past years, and we still have lots of work to do.
I want to see curling thrive with even bigger and diverse participants.
Thank you, Max, for your support of the Curler Outreach Program. Good Curling, Max, Japan, and the Leaside Curling Club!
Have an idea for our next Fan or Bunch of the Month?