Curling Canada has officially announced its plan to run select 2021 Season of Champions events (Scotties, Brier, Mixed Doubles, Men’s Worlds) in a “hub-city” model at Winsport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.
The events will be held behind closed doors, in a made for tv format to be broadcast nationally by TSN and RDS.
While Curling Canada’s announcement was light in terms of specific details, including dates and event formats, it is clear that planning has been underway for some time.
“It is thanks largely to the commitment of our business partners that we are able to have ambitions of holding some of our events, giving the best curling fans in the world something to look forward to in the new year,” said Curling Canada CEO Kathleen Henderson in a press release.
Given the fact that Alberta is currently experiencing an influx of COVID cases, with health experts calling on calling on the provincial government to enact righter restrictions on public gatherings, it is possible that the events could undergo further changes before they officially get underway.
As such, Curling Canada will wait until early 2021 to finalize specific details, while continuing to work with public health officials.
This announcement comes after months of uncertainty from the sport’s governing body, and is most likely welcome news to the country’s top curling teams.
Two athletes who were particularly thrilled by Tuesday’s announcement, were skips Brad Gushue and Kerri Einarson, who were both unable to compete at worlds after winning their respective national championships.
“It’s exciting news, and as a team we’re very pleased to see that such a high priority is being placed on the safety of the athletes and those involved in putting on the championships,” said Brad Gushue.
For 2020 Scotties champion Kerri Einarson, the announcement comes at the end of an emotionally turbulent year:
“It’s been a difficult few months, obviously, so I’m very happy to see these events taking place in a safe environment, and very happy for the fans as they will have something to look forward to.”
Einarson and Gushue will not have to worry about qualifying for next year’s nationals, as defending champions they will represent “Team Canada” at the Scotties and Brier.
However, other teams across the country will have to wait and see what their respective provincial/territorial associations have planned in terms of determining representatives at nationals.
With these events being moved to Calgary, it means that previously announced host cities will have to wait at least one more year before holding their respective events.
Curling Canada announced yesterday that Thunder Bay, original host city for the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, will host the 2022 edition of the national women’s championships.
It remains unseen what will happen to Kelowna and Ottawa, who were both scheduled to host the 2021 editions of the Tim Horton’s Brier and World Men’s Curling Championships, respectively.
Another major unknown that remains for Canada’s top curling teams, is what will happen to the 2020 Home Hardware Canada Cup, a significant event in determining the field at the 2022 Olympic Trials.
While Curling Canada has postponed the 2020 running of the Canada Cup indefinitely, their plans for the event were noticeable absent from Tuesday’s Season of Champions announcement.
It is expected that the Calgary hub will also play host to two rounds of the Grand Slam of Curling (Player’s Championship, Champions Cup) following the Season of Champions events.
It is unknown if Curling Canada intended to include the Canada Cup in the hub-city events, or whether alternative plans are being explored.