During Kate’s 12-year tenure, she has certainly advanced our sport, incredibly so, and is most deserving of this honour. Thank you, Kate!

President Bach also advised the new President that he would have big shoes to fill. Well, that task has fallen to me - but I don’t think I will be able to do that at all, nor do I think I should try.

Over the last several years, we, at the World Curling Federation, have undertaken an intensive strategic planning and structural review process that has led us to make many governance changes to our federation.

Our members have directed our Board to not be an operational one, but rather one focussed on strategy and policy. To do so, we have transformed our Board to be skills-based, with more gender diversity, independent and athlete voices and with less hierarchy and reliance on regional representation.

With that change to the focus of the Board, we have invested heavily in our staff, allowing them to use their expertise to undertake the operational aspects of the federation and the sport and give them the flexibility to find the best solutions to deliver the Board’s policies.

At the same time, we are increasingly availing of technology to improve communication and collaboration amongst our member associations, to leverage expertise that exists throughout our organisation and operate in a more open and transparent way.

When we talk about strategy at the World Curling Federation, we categorise our aims and goals into four pillars.

Organisational sustainability - we want to be a better organisation. To do so, we must look to mitigate risks and build a stronger and more diverse community. 

We are excited to have undertaken new initiatives to look at increasing our commercial opportunities, broadening our approach to diversity, equality and inclusion, addressing our environmental footprint and continuing to look at our governance.

Development - we want to grow our sport. That can mean more member associations, but it also very much means more curlers at the level of member associations. To do that, we are going to help our members develop.

We are excited about new initiatives with the World Academy of Sport as well as looking at a new, proactive approach to facility development.

Engagement  - we want our sport to flourish. To do so, we want to engage with our constituencies, stakeholders and fans more often and more effectively. 

We are excited about new revenue accruing streaming initiatives through the Curling Channel on Recast, which are allowing us to broadcast more and more of events, including those that have never been broadcast before. 

We have new working groups and efforts engaging our members in new ways, and, as mentioned above, we have an increased focus on collaboration and using technology to communicate in new ways.

Competitions - we constantly pursue excellence and feel our competitions are a showcase of that pursuit. We want to run the best events and have an ongoing initiative looking at how we can "maximise the value" of our sport. 

We are analysing our events as competitive determinants but also as sports entertainment products. And we are looking at how we might deliver more value to all of our stakeholders - athletes, fans, commercial partners and our member associations.

To pursue our strategy, we really have to work together. Not only has President Caithness been such an incredible advocate of our sport, but she was a huge proponent and promoter of our culture, our "World Curling Family."

I know every sport thinks they are unique, and we are no different. We are governed by a unique code, "the Spirit of Curling", which commands us to conduct ourselves honourably both on and off the ice. 

We honestly believe the world would be a better place if there were more curlers and our vision for our federation is to spread our culture and values around the globe to do just that.

So, President Bach, I can’t fill Kate’s shoes, but all of us in the World Curling family are ready to work together and take what Kate has so wonderfully stewarded and pursue our vision to truly make an impact on our world.

We look forward to reporting back soon.

Thank you for honouring Kate and your support of our World Curling family.