Why are there so few women coaching at curling's top level in Canada?

Curling Canada says it's looking for opportunities to involve more women in coaching at the highest levels of the game.

Just three of the 36 teams competing at this year's Scotties and Brier had female coaches — the rest were coached by men or didn't have a coach.

Colleen Jones, six-time Scotties champion, was the only woman coach at the women's national curling championships. She was coaching her home province of Nova Scotia. Jones said that it was a topic of conversation at the competition.

"When I became aware of it I was like, 'why am I the only one female coach here in a sea of unbelievably talented male coaches?' I just wondered where the rest of the women were," Jones told CBC Sports.

"I think it's an issue because there are so many talented female curlers who could take the next step into coaching."

Elaine Dagg-Jackson is a national coach and the manager of the women's program for Curling Canada. She said there are initiatives underway across the country to give women better opportunities to be involved in coaching.

Curling Canada held a women's coaching clinic during the Scotties in Calgary last month. Dagg-Jackson said it was a great success, with 38 coaches from 17 different Alberta curling clubs attending.

"There's more than what you see in front of us here. We see there is a certain slant toward male coaches at the Scotties and Brier, but that doesn't mean you don't have women coaches. They're just not visible at these competitions," Dagg-Jackson said.

"Of course I would love to see more women coaching at the Scotties, Brier and world championships. It's not that it's never happened, it's just not happening right now." 

Dagg-Jackson said it was uncommon for teams to have coaches during the 1990s, but those