The governing body that oversees curling in Canada has cancelled a slate of tournaments scheduled for later this year amid ongoing uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic.
Three tournaments spread throughout the country have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely, Curling Canada announced on Tuesday.
The Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, which was scheduled for Nov. 7 to Nov. 15 in Canmore, Alta., and the Everest Canadian Curling Club Championships, scheduled for Nov. 22 to Nov. 28 in Ottawa, have both been cancelled.
“We all know the reality of our situation, and it goes beyond sports,” said Katherine Henderson, chief executive officer of Curling Canada.
“Our primary goal and responsibility, always, is to keep athletes and volunteers safe and it was determined that without any kind of clarity about what the situation will look like in the late fall when these events were scheduled, we couldn’t responsibly go further in the planning process.”
The 2020 Home Hardware Canada Cup, scheduled for Nov. 24 to Nov. 29 in Fredericton, N.B., will be postponed indefinitely as Curling Canada looks to reschedule the event for the new year.
Curling Canada says the decision to reschedule rather than cancel is because the event plays a role in determining teams for the 2021 Tim Hortons Roar of Rings tournament, which in turn would decide Canada’s four-player teams for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Unlike the Fredericton event, both the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship and the Everest Canadian Curling Club Championships are operated by large groups of local volunteers. The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying attendance and travel restrictions make those events financially unfeasible, Curling Canada said.
Those two events will next take place as scheduled in the fall of 2021.
“These were not easy decisions, but they were correct decisions in these circumstances,” said Henderson.
“Like all curlers and curling fans, we look forward to a return to normalcy and we will work diligently to make sure this is done responsibly.”
Curling Canada also confirmed that Jean-Sébastien Roy’s Quebec team, which includes Amélie Blais, Dan deWaard and Brenda Nicholls, will maintain its status as Team Canada for the 2021 World Mixed Championship.
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