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Title : If you're Dutch-Canadian and can curl, this man wants you
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If you're Dutch-Canadian and can curl, this man wants you

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — If you're a Dutch-Canadian and are good at curling, this might be the big break you've been waiting for.

In an effort to grow the sport in the Netherlands, the country's curling federation and a Dutch sports marketing firm have combined to recruit Canadians of Dutch heritage to find the next orange wave of curlers.

They're calling the campaign "Holland's Next Gold Medal."

"We have to look at Canada, at the mecca of curling," said Norberth Korsmit, who works for Triple Double, a Dutch sports marketing agency. "The Dutch people don't really know what curling is, but they don't hate it. It has a positive feeling."

Korsmit is at the world curling championship in Lethbridge this week trying to recruit Dutch-Canadians to move from Canada to the Netherlands to raise the level of curling talent there.

The campaign has been going on for less than a year — Korsmit says 68 Dutch-Canadians showed interest in joining their ranks. He met with 15 of them over the past few days in Lethbridge and will put out a call for more if needed.

WATCH | Canada's Koe delivers shot of the tournament:

Kevin Koe played the in-off double takeout to score a deuce in the ninth end, as Canada beat John Shuster's American rink 6-3. 1:09

"We had people taking flights to Lethbridge. We also had someone drive from Thunder Bay," said Korsmit, who is now in the process of evaluating applicants. "A young man, his Dutch father, and the 80-year-old coach drove 2,000 kilometres for a one-hour meeting."

The Dutch Olympic committee is even throwing its weight behind the campaign.

"Curling is alive and kicking in the Netherlands yet there are only 150 people who play," said Maurits Hendriks, technical director of Dutch Olympic committee. "That means a shortage of good professionals. I feel responsible to change that. That's why we're looking for more curling countrymen."

The Netherlands has only one designated curling club, as well as three hockey rinks that are converted into curling surfaces.

But there seems to be momentum because of the work being done by Korsmit and his marketing team.

Over the past four years, they've been relentless in promoting the game in the Netherlands. They've also been getting the media behind the sport too.

The foursome of Wouter Goesgens, Carlo Glasbergen, Laurens Hoekman and skip Jaap Van Dorp are the leading edge of a campaign to increase curling in the Netherlands. (John Locher/Associated Press)

"Curling four years ago in the Netherlands was nothing," Korsmit said. "Nobody knew curling. It wasn't cool. They think it's a strange sport."

Korsmit first saw the game being played years ago, and was hooked after watching live games at the Sochi Olympics. On his return home, he approached the Dutch Curling Federation.

"They were a little suspicious," he said. "I told them I wanted to offer them marketing research."

He outlined four pillars to focus on: increasing understanding of the rules of the game; increase the number of curling clubs; increasing participation (a goal to have every Dutch person try the game at least once); with an end result that a Dutch curling medal was not too far away.

"We did activation of a lot of programs," Korsmit said. "Before it was a game. Now it's a sport and we have serious media attention. For the first time every game is on sports highlights."

Netherlands skip Jaap Van Dorp and his teammates now receive funding to help travel to events. This is the world championship in which they've competed. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

All of the publicity and popularity has led to more funding for the country's men's team, which is making its third straight appearance at the world curling championship.

The foursome of Wouter Gosgens, Jaap Van Dorp, Laurens Koekman and Carlo Bergen have been committed to the sport for more than a decade and until recently have paid their own way to get to events.

"Until the last year they've financed their own way. We all have," said team coach Shari Leibbrant, a Canadian who grew up in Golden, B.C., and married a Dutchman. They originally planned to return to the Netherlands for only a year, but that was 15 years ago. Curling got in the way.

"I've been with two of the [team] for 15 years. We've been on the road together for a lot of years," said Leibbrant, who added she's too focused on the tournament to give the marketing campaign much thought. "They're young. Sometimes you have to be a mom but most of the time it's a coach."

The Dutch team is ranked 30th in the world but continues to improve, spending more time in Canada because of the level of competition. And now it seems the country is following their journey.

"They're a little curling crazy right now. And these guys are great role models," Leibbrant said. "The guys believe in the sport. They do clinics. It's not about them. It's about growing the game."

The goal for this team was to qualify for the 2018 Olympics. They just missed out on that. Now they're taking aim at the next Games — and hoping not to be replaced by Dutch-Canadians.

"Where's this all leading? The sky is the limit for these guys," Leibbrant said.

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