The Nigerian curling team may have already been on the wrong end of two heavy defeats at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games on Saturday, but their real battle was won before a single stone was thrown.
The Broomzillas, as they are known, are the first curling team from Africa to appear at a YOG and they have already overcome a critical lack of funding and one other key disadvantage on their journey to the Republic of Korea.
Curling is yet another sport unknown to the majority of Nigerians. As a sub-Saharan country, Nigeria hardly has any business with winter sports. But over the years, Nigeria and other countries with tropical climate conditions have made inroads at the Winter Games, which at a time was only exclusive to countries with extreme cold conditions.
Jamaica’s bobsleigh team at the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, Canada inspired a generation of warm-climate countries to embrace winter sports games. And Nigeria was not left out. The nation made its winter debut at the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang in 2018, having qualified female athletes in bobsleigh and skeleton events.
In 2018, the West African country became the first African member of World Curling, followed by Kenya in 2021. Their admission was part of the reason why the Pan Continental Curling Championships was created, replacing the Pacific Asia Curling Championships and Americas Challenger respectively.
Still in its curling infancy, Nigeria qualified for the Winter Youth Olympic Games, taking place from 19 January to 1 February in Gangwon, Korea.
Roy Daniel will play on the self-funded rink in the Mixed Doubles competition, following in the footsteps of his father, Damola Daniel, who competed at the World Senior Curling Championships in 2022 and now acts as the President of the Nigeria Curling Federation.
Jasmine Oku, Roy’s cousin, is also part of the mixed team for Gangwon. The squad trains back in their home country, while Daniel stays in Germany with his family.
However, only Roy has regular access to curling ice, while plans to create a dedicated facility in Nigeria have stalled due to rising costs caused by inflation. It means the team mostly trains via floor curling.
