Some of the world’s best men’s and women’s curling teams will be coming to Guelph.
Members of the Guelph Curling Club were at the Spring Mill Distillery in Guelph on Tuesday to announce that the Grand Slam of Curling’s WFG Masters will be taking place at Sleeman Centre Jan. 14 to 19, 2025.
The event will consist of 32 teams — 16 men, 16 women — competing for a combined prize purse of $400,000.
“This is an opportunity for high-level athletes to curl on professional ice, to curl on ice that is world-class,” said Rob Mungham, co-chair of the Grand Slam of Curling Guelph and member of the Guelph Curling Club.
He added the Masters coming to Guelph was “the worst kept secret” but organizers were unable to publicly talk about it until Tuesday.
There are a few differences between a Grand Slam of Curling event and the Brier or the Tournament of Hearts. Curlers in these events compete for cash prizes instead of representing a club, province or territory. There is also a points system that determines which teams qualify for the event.
“We don’t even know which teams will be there because they are still building their points right now,” said Erin Cook, co-chair of the Grand Slam of Curling Guelph and member of the Guelph Curling Club.
“That is why you are going to get teams from all over the world.”
There were a number of dignitaries there for the announcement, including Mayor Cam Guthrie, Sleeman Brewery founder John Sleeman, and world and Olympic curling champion Jennifer Jones. Jones said the grand slam events bring out the best in curlers.
“As a competitor, it is really hard to do well (in grand slam events) because the curling is so good,” Jones said. “You’re going to see the best curling, the best players, great atmosphere. For the most part, almost every player will say their favourite events to play are the slams.”
Jones competed in Grand Slam of Curling events in the past and told those in attendance that it was the first event where both men’s and women’s teams earned the same prize amount.
The Guelph Curling Club hopes events like these will raise the profile of the club and the sport of curling.
“We find that during Olympic years, that is when curling clubs across Ontario and across Canada pick up members because people see it on TV and they get really excited,” Cook said.
This will be the second time that Guelph has hosted a Grand Slam of Curling event. The last one was the National, at the time a men’s-only event, in 2010 won by Brad Gushue.
Tickets go on sale Dec. 2 and are available at the Grand Slam of Curling website.
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