Local resident on Canadian Olympic Committee

As a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), Orangeville resident Fred Temple is pleased at the prospect of seeing the Olympic Flame stop in Orangeville on December 28.

"Orangeville's participation in the Torch Relay is a chance to have our very own opening ceremony and for the whole town to get involved in Olympism."

An avid curler, Mr. Temple represents the sport of curling on the COC and has been involved in the administration of curling for Ontario and Canada for quite some time. His interest in curling started right in Orangeville.

Mr. Temple's parents were members of the Orangeville Curling Club and in the early 1970s he and his brother decided to try it. "The only training I had, before stepping on the ice for the first time, was looking through the glass as others played. I enjoyed the game, continued with it, and developed better skills.

He later got involved in coaching and instructing, completing level 3 coach (NAACP). He made the most of an opportunity to coach a couple of teams, winning silver at the Canadian Junior Curling Championships in 1987.

Meanwhile, he had joined the administrative side, getting on the board of the Orangeville Curling Club in 1983. He served as president of the club, later becoming the zone representative for the Ontario Curling Association.

He served as president of the Ontario Curling Association in 1997 and 1998, having started on the provincial executive in 1993.

Mr. Temple was elected to the board of the Canadian Curling Association in 2000 for five years. During his tenure on the CCA board, he was curling's international representative to the World Curling Federation. Each Pan American and Olympic sport (77 in total) has a representative on the Canadian Olympic Committee and Mr. Temple has served on that committee since 2006.

The overall committee meets twice a year, and Mr. Temple serves on the Revenue Generation and Marketing Committee.

As a COC member, Mr. Temple produces a report for curling so those in the curling world are aware of what is happening at the COC level. Representatives for rugby sevens and golf will be added to the Olympic fold as they will be included in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games.

Mr. Temple's role as curling's representative to the COC is to deal with the policy, direction, vision, mission, and values of the COC.

He says that at present there are only a few hundred curlers in China, with a population of hundreds of millions. "However, the Chinese government recognized that with the right investment in the right people they could quickly become a power and challenge for Olympic gold. They were very successful - hired Canadian coaches and trained their athletes across Canada year-round.

Although China has only a few hundred curlers, just this past year, the team of Bengyu Wang became the World Women's Curling Champions and are one of the favourites for this year's Winter Olympics."

Mr. Temple says prospects are high for Canada to win a high number of medals in Vancouver.

"My sport of curling recognizes that our country expects excellence from our representatives. Like hockey, our country has an expectation of Olympic gold for our sports, not just a medal."

An Orangeville resident since 1952, Mr. Temple is well known locally as an insurance adjuster, having worked for Crawford & Co. for years and now part-time for Dufferin Mutual.

He studied geography at Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier), and he also enjoys playing golf, but curling is his passion. He played the sport up until last December, when an injury kept him off the ice.

He's happy to see the Olympic Flame going across Canada.

"The Torch Relay gives everyone an opportunity to participate in Olympism. It creates a fire within everyone and gives some incentive to apply ourselves to be better and to play fair."

He says it's important to promote a continued interest in sports. "Canada needs to support the Olympians; the cost of preparing athletes for the games is unbelievable."

He says he'll be sure not miss the Torch Relay celebration on December 28 at the Tony Rose Memorial Sports Centre.