(Curling Canada – CurlManitoba News Release) CurlManitoba, in partnership with Curling Canada and key stakeholders, has unveiled the Regional Performance Hub & Development Centre at the Heather Curling Club in Winnipeg.

This new initiative provides Manitoba’s high-performance and emerging curlers with access to championship-quality training resources, marking a significant investment in the future of curling in the region. This project is the result of a partnership between Curling Canada, CurlManitoba, the Government of Manitoba, Sport Manitoba, and the Canadian Sport Centre Manitoba.

“This facility is transforming how Manitoba curlers train and prepare for competition,” said Craig Baker, Executive Director of CurlManitoba. “With dedicated championship-quality ice and all-day access to the facility, our athletes are better equipped to compete and win on the national and world stages.”

The Winnipeg hub features two dedicated sheets of world-class ice equipped with advanced tools, including video analysis, speed traps, smart brooms that provide performance data, and championship-calibre rocks. These resources are tailored to meet the training needs of Manitoba’s National Team Program (NTP) athletes, NextGen curlers, and other elite competitors from the area.

“We know Manitoba hosts some of the best curlers in the world, and we’re excited to be able to support this transformative project to continue to support our world-class athletes,” said Nellie Kennedy, Minister of Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism. “Curling isn’t just a sport in Manitoba, but a point of provincial pride. We look forward to how this new centre will help Manitobans celebrate their skills and allow them to reach new heights, and new records, in curling.” 

Designed for maximum accessibility, the two training sheets are available to high-performance curlers, while the club’s six additional sheets host recreational leagues. High-performance teams, including Team Chelsea Carey, Team Matt Dunstone,  Team Kerri Einarson, Team Kaitlyn Lawes, Mike McEwen of Team McEwen, Dennis Thiessen of the National Wheelchair Curling Program, and NextGen teams such as Team Arbuckle/Macdonell, Team Kate Cameron and Team Jordon McDonald are already benefitting from the facility.

The ice is maintained by a team led by chief ice technician Greg Ewasko.

“Having dedicated practice ice at the Heather is essential in improving all aspects of our game. The amazing ice conditions Greg and his team have created allow us to focus on consistent throws, which helps build the confidence needed to compete at the highest level. We’ve needed a facility like this in Manitoba for a long time, and I am so excited that we finally have it,” said Team Lawes vice-skip, Selena Njegovan.

Launching this centre is the first step in accomplishing one of the first major initiatives of Curling Canada’s Director of High Performance, David Murdoch, who joined the National Sports Organization at the end of the 2022-23 season.

With the trend of international curlers becoming full-time athletes noticeably increasing, so, too, does the need for Canadian high-performance and NextGen curlers to have access to high-quality ice conditions, stones, equipment, and coaching.

The development of high-performance Canadian curling teams is hindered by Canada’s vast geography, making centralized training challenging. This new regional training model serves as what Curling Canada expects to be a blueprint for similar facilities in other Member Association regions across Canada. With access to a dedicated sheet of ice, training to maintain it and some additional equipment, this blueprint can be implemented in facilities across the country.

“The demands of international competition now require athletes to train daily with high-quality ice, coaching and advanced technology. Canadian curlers are disadvantaged simply because of geography and access to training because they often require significant travel,” said Murdoch. “As these demands increase, we must find new and innovative ways to provide them with consistent access to the best training environments possible. I’m thankful for the collaboration of our partners to make this new training centre a reality and I’m optimistic about what it means for the development of our sport.”

The centres align with Curling Canada’s strategic vision to establish a nationwide network that maximizes the use of existing facilities while enhancing them to meet the daily training environment standards essential for success. Curling Canada also aims to support the development of curlers by fostering coaching expertise and creating clear pathways for young athletes to progress to the elite level.

Curling Canada plans to expand the Regional Performance Hub network to establish similar centres nationwide in the coming years. This initiative is part of Curling Canada’s commitment to ensuring that Canada remains a leader in the sport while fostering the next generation of champions.

From elite level international competitors and the best of Manitoba’s competitive teams, to the best of our club-level teams and the regular club players, Manitoba’s curling clubs were filled with action this past weekend.

O’GRADY CUP: Fort Garry Over Ste Anne at home

A week ago, the Ste. Anne Curling Club won its first ever match in the century old competition which weekly brings club curlers together for comradeship, competition, and hospitality.

Ste. Anne had never entered the competition before winning a week ago so they brought their “only currently undefeated team” record to Fort Garry Sunday afternoon to meet their challengers. It was a special occasion at Fort Garry as the O’Grady Cup Trustees (Ron Margolis, Rod MacKay, Don Stewart) paid tribute to long-time trustee Ron Lloyd, the Fort Garry club member who had helped organize the friendly inter-club competition for thirty years. A special tribute plaque was presented to the Fort Garry as well as to Ron’s three daughters.

While Sunday was only Ste. Anne’s second match in the O’Grady, FGCC’s first match was in 1930 when they visited Oakville and after 14 ends of play, won by a two-game total score of 25-19. Overall. FGCC has played in 76 games, and a total of 156 members have curled in the O’Grady prior to Sunday.

The Ste. Anne unbeaten record ended at one match. The two game total was 13-13 after seven ends but FGCC outscored SACC 4-1 in the 8th, for a 17-14 victory.

The records show that over 8,400 different curlers have participated in the O’Grady in the 116 years of its existence. Portage (364 curlers) has the most with two other clubs over 300. Glenboro has played in 172 of the 1630 matches, with 3 other clubs over 100.

DEKALB SUPERSPIEL: CALVERT, KANG TAKE TITLES

At the other end of the competitive scale, three of the four finalists in the men’s division of the annual DEKALB SuperSpiel in Morris were teams aspiring to represent Manitoba at this year’s Brier.

Jordon McDonald and his crew went undefeated to the semi-final but couldn’t get past Braden Calvert who drew the four foot facing two to win their game. Brett Walter bested Timothy Hodek (North Dakota) in the other semi-final.

The Calvert foursome went on to beat Walter in a game which might have been settled when Calvert scored three on the opening end. Walter fought back with a deuce and they traded deuces after that. Walter was never able to score that extra point needed to draw even. In the end, two more for Calvert on the seventh gave his team an insurmountable 7-4 lead coming home.

The women’s semi-finals were an international affair with Kristy Watling the only Manitoba team to advance that far. The 2018 Olympic Silver medal Kim team from Korea bested Japan’s Kitazawa foursome while Watling lost to Korea’s junior championship hopefuls in the other semi-final. The final was won by the junior Kang team over Kim.

The two champion teams earned $10,000 cheques.

SEAGRAM’S CLUB CHAMPIONS REGIONALS

Regional playoffs around the province this weekend identified 22 teams (11 men, 11 women) to compete in the Seagram’s Whisky Provincials (April 3-6, 2025 at St. Vital). As host club, St. Vital has an automatic host club berth in each championship.

The regional winners include several past champions.
WOMEN: Stacey Irwin-Brandon (2010-2013-2017), Kara Balshaw -Ft Rouge (2023)
MEN: Andrew Wickman-Ft Rouge (2016-2018-2020), Mark Anderson-Riverview (2017), Derrick Anderson-Gimli (2023)

The other regional winners include:
Women: Sheri Horning-Burntwood, Kim Link-East St. Paul, Patti Ulrich & Lisa Dickson-St. Vital, Heather Bartmanovich-Dauphin, Jennifer Clarke-Rouire & Carlene Strand-Ft Garry, Norma Purdy-AMCC, and Karen Sheldon-Granite.

Men: Grant Brown-Burntwood, Jay Kinnaird-Virden, Mark Lowdon-LaSalle, Tanner Lott-Selkirk, Ryan Hyde-Portage, Butch Mouck-Gilbert Plains, Daniel Birchard-Pembina, and Jesse McCullough-Ft Garry.

Meanwhile the Canadian 2024 Club Champions event also took place in the past week. Manitoba’s two teams both earned medals, although neither took gold. The Zach Wasylik team lost the final x to earn silver while Deb McCreanor’s foursome brought home the bronze medal

When CurlManitoba’s Viterra Men’s Championship takes place at Stride Place Arena in Portage la Prairie, February 4-9, 2025, it will the 100th time that the top male curlers in the province have competed for the opportunity to represent Manitoba in inter-provincial competition. CurlManitoba and the Portage host committee are planning a celebration to mark the occasion.

While there had been bonspiels like the MCA bonspiel, which began in 1889, and other major provincial bonspiels across Canada, the 1925 competition won by Howard Wood and his Granite team became the first provincial championship event in Canada.

The championship has been played every year since with only four title sponsors (Macdonald Tobacco, Labatts, Safeway, Viterra) and with the only year missed being 2021, when Covid wiped out the curling season.

To celebrate this very significant occasion in Manitoba and Canadian curling history, CurlManitoba and the Portage host committee are inviting past Manitoba Men’s champions to a 100th anniversary “Reunion of Champions” at the Viterra Championship in February, 2025.

The celebration of 100 years will recognize the four primary sponsors along with the 99 previous champions. Of approximately 400 men (many of them multiple times, of course) who have won a Manitoba purple heart, symbolic of winning the men’s curling championship, it is estimated that about 120 champions, from the 1950’s to the present, are still alive.

Every past Manitoba Men’s champion is invited to attend the formal recognition at the Opening Banquet of the 2025 Viterra Championship. Invitations are being issued but, unfortunately, the association has lost touch with some past champions and all are invited to contact CurlManitoba (mca@curlmanitoba.org OR 204-925-5723) to ensure they are on the invitation list.

THE MACDONALD BRIER TROPHY: The first Manitoba championship curling event, officially called the Macdonald Brier Trophy event in the MCA Bonspiel, took place in 1925. It has since been known as the British Consols, Labatt Tankard, Safeway Select, Safeway Championship, and Viterra Championship.

Even during the years of World War II, a Manitoba championship took place despite the fact the Macdonald Brier national championship was paused from 1943 to 1945.

That 1925 event is recognized as the first stepping stone toward establishment of the Brier. Howard Wood’s champion Granite team was hosted on a good-will tour of Eastern Canada, playing the best teams in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec. The idea was repeated in 1926 when George Sherwood’s St John’s CC team was taken east, this time to play in the annual Quebec bonspiel.

The interest in the games between the Manitobans and their eastern opponents led to the establishment of the first Macdonald Brier in 1927. It has been lost in the mists of time that the Manitobans competed for the Macdonald Brier Trophy and the winners advanced to play for the Macdonald Brier Tankard (the same national trophy being played for today). Manitoba’s championship became the British Consols in 1937.

During the Viterra Championship in Portage, a number of special events and historic displays will help celebrate the 100th championship.

QUALIFYING & TICKET SALES: Curlers are encouraged to try to qualify for what will be a special event in Portage. Berth winners will join defending champion Reid Carruthers and 2023-24 CTRS berth winner Jordon McDonald and their teams, who have pre-qualified.

Qualifying events will include the MCT Atkins Classic at Assiniboine Memorial (October 4-6), the Viterra Berth Bonspiel in Carman (November 8-10), Regional Qualifiers (December 6-8), two berths in the MCT Showdown in Stonewall (Nov. 29 – Dec. 1), and the MCT Shootout in Virden (December 13-15). The Brandon Bonspiel (January 10-12) will provide one more entry for Portage and the final three will come from the last-chance Manitoba Open (January 16-20). As in the past, season high point teams on MCT and CTRS will also qualify.

Tickets for curling fans who want to join the celebration and watch the best men’s teams compete for this year’s provincial title will go on sale December 1^st.

Paul Scinocca and his Manitoba team have won Manitoba a second consecutive Gold Medal at the Canada 55+ Games. Two other Manitoba teams qualified for bronze medal games but both fell short.

Scinocca, Norma Purdy, Paul Armstrong and Marla Boyd had a 3W-0L record in pool play and advanced direct to the gold medal game today in Quebec City. British Columbia won the other pool with an identical perfect record. Team Manitoba won the gold medal with a 7-5 victory.

At the previous 55+ Games, Ray Baker’s Dauphin team won a gold medal in the men’s competition.

At this year’s event, Bill Mamchuk and his team (3rd – Larry Schroeder, 2nd – Dan Beaudoin, Lead – Stu Marshall, 5th – Fred Spiring) in the 65+ Men’s Division posted a 2W-2L record to advance to the bronze medal game but were defeated in their medal game by Alberta.

Two Women’s teams represented Manitoba.

Patti Ulrich (3rd – Brenda Michel, 2nd – Tammy Selman, Lead – Jill Proctor) finished round robin play with a 2W-2L record, tied for fourth in the standings with Nova Scotia. As NS had beaten them in pool play, the Maritimers advanced to the Bronze medal game.

Bev Atkins (3rd – Kathy Issac, 2nd – Lynn Sandercock, Lead – Anne Mushamanski) qualified for the bronze game in their division with a 2W-1L record. They were assigned third place in the standings and the bronze game berth based on draw-to-the button tally. They lost the medal game to BC in an extra end.

At this year’s event in Quebec City, it was announced that Winnipeg will be the host city for the Canada Senior 55+ Games in 2026.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Having already spent a couple of afternoons on the ice in Morris, I am ready for summer to be over and curling season to begin. I see Jordon McDonald and his team have had a good start in Edmonton – reaching today’s championship round and I’m hunting for details on the performance of four Manitoba teams at the Canada 55+ Sr Games in Quebec. And I’m ready to start talking/writing about curling again. Looking forward to a great season ahead – GOOD LUCK & GOOD CURLING TO ALL OF YOU!!!!

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Eleven teams from the United States and nine from Canada will be playing this weekend in the international Icebreaker bonspiel at CurlMorris.

While Club Manager Gabriel Brandt would have been happier with an even split, the 11-9 ratio “is close enough”. The 10-team Women’s event is even at 5 & 5 while six teams will visit from the USA in the Men’s event.

They’ll be playing for first prize money of $1,800 (CDN) in the two events but Brandt says last year’s experiment with a “Playing for the Flag” concept was so popular that it has been brought back and enhanced.

Across the two events, there will be a total of 24 games played between a Canadian and an American team. Simply explained, each win gets marked on the scoreboard with a Canadian OR US flag – and the country that gets to 13 wins first will be declared the international Icebreaker champion nation for this year.

Last year, Brandt says, the bragging rights were on the line right to the final game of the round robin preliminary round when the Canadian team defeated the visitors.

“It’s just a fun idea,” he says, “but we know from watching the Olympics how proud people are to compete fort heir flag and to support the rest of their national team.”

Play starts Friday at 3PM in Morris with games Friday evening and all-day Saturday. Three playoff rounds start at 9AM on Sunday.

On the men’s side, the US teams hail from Colorado (Sobering), Wisconsin (Hebert, Kadlec), Minnesota (Sampson, Sinnett) and North Dakota (Hodek). They’ll take on Manitoba teams skipped by Hayden Forrester, Sean Grassie, Zach Norris and Riley Smith.

The US women will be coming to Morris from Illinois (Hagenbuch), Minnesota (Giroux, Johnson), and North Dakota (McMakin, Workin). They play against Canadian teams from Alberta (Skrlik), Saskatchewan (Thevenot) and Manitoba (Cameron, Hayward, Watling).

With 24 round-robin games, the possibility exists for an even 12-12 split in the results. Not wanting to push the flag-waving over into the playoff round, the committee has decided to start the American side with a one-win advantage – “simply Canadian hospitality,” Brandt explains.

This year’s WCCA Daytime champions were determined Friday at Fort Rouge – the best, for this year, among eight men’s teams, seven Women’s, and eight 2-person stick teams.

Ray Gislason’s Pembina team (Key Boyd, Stan Struthers, Les Newman, and Rick Sproule) took the trophy in the men’s competition. Betty Van Walleghem’s Fort Rouge team (Lorraine Laporte, Brenda Frank, and Sharon Biehl) topped the women’s division. Rob Lacombe and Ralph Nespor’s Assinboine Memorial duo won the 2-person stick competition.

(CurlManitoba Release) Randy Neufeld and his La Salle team have won Manitoba’s Strathcona Senior Men’s Championship, with a 7-2 victory Monday afternoon at Heather Curling Club over Dave Boehmer – Petersfield. It is a record setting fifth championship for Neufeld and three of his La Salle teammates Dean Moxham, Peter Nicholls and Dale Michie.

They had previously shared the record with Boehmer (2018, 2019, 2020, 2023) and Lloyd Gunnlaugson who is still the only skip to win four consecutive senior titles (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985).

Boehmer and his lead George Hacking were attempting to win their fifth senior title while Dale Lott, Sean Bracken, and alternate Scott Szydlik were trying for their second consecutive.

The two teams had met earlier in the Page 1-1 Playoff game when Neufeld defeated the defending champion to drop them into the Monday morning semi-final. Boehmer readily won that semi-final over Dean Dunstone’s Granite foursome to set up the re-match.

The final was all-Neufeld for the first four ends with his team scoring four consecutive singles. Boehmer manufactured a deuce but Neufeld  put three more on the board with the hammer on the sixth end and the Boehmer team conceded.

In the preliminary round, Boehmer was undefeated (7W-0L) while Neufeld lost one one game (6W-1L).

Behind Neufeld in the Asham pool, Murray Warren – Brandon also had a 6W-1L record while Mike Mahon – Granite was awarded third place on the basis of the tiebreaker, which is the total of the best 12 draws thrown before the round-robin games to determine who will have last stone in the games.

Behind Boehmer in the Asham Ultra Force pool, Paul Scinocca – Charleswood and Dunstone both had 5W-2L records. Scinocca was awarded second place based on his round robin win over Dunstone.

Dunstone beat Warren and Mahon beat Scinocca in the crossover qualifier games which were followed by a Dunstone win over Mahon to reach the semifinal against Boehmer.

Neufeld and his team won the Strathcona Senior Men’s in 2015 and 2016 and again in 2018 and 2019. They won the Canadian title and the World Silver medal in 2015. Along with alternate Darren Oryniak,  Team Neufeld also has a 17W-2L record in winning the last two Manitoba Masters championships.

The Everest Canadian National Senior Championship will be played in Moncton, NB in December, 2024.

The Assiniboine College Cougars curling teams will be in Fredericton, New Brunswick next week to represent ACC and the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference at the CCAA/Curling Canada College Championships.

The ACC teams will be the first teams to compete for Manitoba since the inception of the event in 2012 but they will be trying to live up to a proud ACC tradition of national curling excellence dating back to the 1980’s.

In 1986, the Cougars won two national silver (Men, Women) and a bronze medal (Mixed). In 1987, three more medals included gold (Men), silver (Mixed), and bronze (Women). Before the national curling program was suspended, the ACC Men won one more medal – gold in 1989.

In the 2024 competition, ACC will have a team in both the Men’s and Women’s competitions, March 12-16 at the Aitken University Centre at the University of New Brunswick and the Capital Winter Club, Fredericton, N.B.

To prepare for the championships, the two teams have played in Brandon leagues throughout the season while practicing each week out of the Brandon Curling Club, under the guidance of coach Maureen Bonar. They have also competed in Brandon, Carberry and Neepawa bonspiels to prepare for the National competition.

The teams include students in a wide range of the ACC program offering.

The Men’s team roster is:
Lead Mateo Otto, Gladstone (Heavy Duty Equipment Technician)
Second: Ryder Chetrybuk, Dauphin (Power Engineering)
Third: Avery Smart, Brandon (Geographic Information Systems)
Skip: Brendan Chubaty, Brandon (Business Administration)

The Women’s team roster is:
Lead: Jada Ricard, Baldur (Business Administration)
Second: Neveah Witherspoon, Carberry (Agribusiness)
Third: Ashlie Jewar, Elkhorn (Social Service Worker)
Skip: Kristen Carlson, Estevan (Agribusiness)
Alternate: Robyn Newsome, Brandon (Agribusiness)

ACC Athletic Director Lindsay McLaughlin acknowledges with appreciation the willingness of local sponsors to support the renewal of the curling program at the college. These include BMO Nesbitt Burns/Parobec Wealth Advisory Group, Brandon Source for Sports, and Steelworkers Union Local 7916.

The final day of play saw medals presented in four competitions at the Manitoba 55+ Games Curling as the Curling events came to a conclusion at the Brandon Curling Club. The events were conducted under the auspices of Active Aging in Manitoba.

In the 4-person team competitions, Patti Ulrich and Brenda Michel earned their second gold medals. Curling with Paul Scinocca and Paul Armstrong, the Winnipeg team won the Mixed event gold medals Thursday. Wednesday they had won the Women 55+ competition with Tammy Selman and Jill Proctor.

The Scinocca foursome had won the first game of the best-of-three series on Wednesday but lost the morning game to Jim Dowsett and his Prairie Mountain team (Donna Dowsett, Bill Scott, Cindy Scott), the silver medalists. They rebounded to win the third game of the series on Thursday afternoon.

The Women 65+ event also wrapped up Thursday. Bev Atkins and her Southern region team (Deb McCreanor, Lynn Sandercock, Anne Mushumanski) came through the “B” side of the playoff to win a pair over Joyce McDougall’s Prairie Mountain team and capture the gold medal. McDougall and her team (Audrey Fleming, Arlene McGregor, Mavis Brown) earned the Silver medal. The Bronze medal had been presented to the Brenda Linski team on Wednesday.

The medalists in the U70 7-team 2-person stick division came from three different regions. Ralph Nespor and Rob Lacombe (Interlake) captured the Gold medal with a final game victory over Fred & Britta Spiring (Winnipeg). The Bronze medal was won by Ron Shoemaker and Dave Drummond (Prairie Mountain). They bested Ross and Darren MacMillan in the bronze medal game.

In the 9-team 70+ 2-person stick curling competition, 2022 Canadian champions Norm Magnusson and Resby Coutts (Winnipeg) won the gold medal, completing the round robin and playoffs with a 5W-1L record. They defeated Lloyd McCabe and Keith Privat (Prairie Mountain) in the final game. The Bronze medal game was also a Winnipeg- Prairie Mountain match with Harold Hamilton and Willie Friesen(Winnipeg) defeating Jake Dyck and Murray Hedley.

Also presented Wednesday, Prairie Mountain region teams won both of the Men 65+ and Men 75+ competitions. Brian Lowdon with Cliff Gouldie, Bob Fraser, and Glen Kyle won the Men 65+ gold medals. Ric Morrison with his team of Ron Cruickshank, Reg Sheardown and Alvin Taft won the Men 75+ gold medals.

The Manitoba 55+ Games will take place in Brandon, June 18-20, 2024. The curling events underway this week at the Brandon Curling Club are a “satellite” event of that larger summer celebration of sport for active Manitoba seniors.

For information about the over-20 competitions and activities in the summer event, go to activeaginmb.ca