SAINT JOHN, NB, January 16, 2020 – The Riverside County Club in Rothesay will be hosting the best masters curlers in the country for the 2020 Canadian Masters Curling Championships March 29 -April 5, 2020. Riverside will be the host rink with support from the Thistle St. Andrews Curling Club in Saint John. The event is estimated to inject over $230K into the local economy.
This high-caliber national event is comprised of male and female athletes over the age of 60, many being medal winners in previous national and world curling events. Twenty- eight teams, 14 male and 14 females, representing the affiliated Member Associations of Curl Canada (Canada’s 10 provinces, plus Northern Ontario and the Territories of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) who have qualified to represent their province/territory will be taking part.
The Masters Championship is one of 14 annual Canadian Championships where Provincial Associations compete for points in order to win the MA (Member Association) Cup, presented by TSN (highest points) and the Governor’s Cup, presented by Curl Canada (biggest year-to-year improvement on points). In 2019 in Saskatchewan, the New Brunswick Ladies Team of Sharon Levesque, Susan Jonah, Shawn Stubbert and Eleanor Murray out of Fredericton won a Bronze Medal.
The Provincial play-downs to determine the teams who will be earning a berth to the Canadian Masters are being held in the next few months. World Senior Women Champion and NB Hall of Fame members Heidi Hanlon, Kathy Floyd, and Jane Arseneau, and World Senior Men’s Champions Wade Blanchard, Wayne Tallon and Mike Flannery are entered in the NB Masters play-downs trying to earn their spot to Represent NB in the Canadian Masters.
Al Hackner from Northern Ontario has secured his spot to play. Al is a 2-time Brier winner, Canadian Men’s and Senior World Champion and is the only skip in Canada that has won the Brier, Seniors and Master’s Championships.
Event co-chairs Gail Samaan and Wayne Cooper have been working with the host committee for months to make the event a success.
“This will be an exciting opportunity for our community to showcase our curling clubs, the Town of Rothesay, the City of Saint John and our East Coast hospitality. There promises to be some excellent curling for our spectators as well,” says Samaan. “A large active volunteer force (100 +), primarily from the curling clubs in the Area (Riverside, TSA, Carleton, Hampton and Sussex) will be required. Our area Junior Curlers will also be part of this event participating in the opening and closing ceremonies.”
Sports tourism is big business, says Victoria Clarke, Executive Director of Discover Saint John. “Events like the Canadian Masters Curling Championship not only generate excitement for sports fans, they bring new money into the local economy filling hotels, restaurants and retailers. Our visitor economy continues to grow thanks to the efforts of volunteers like Gail and Wayne who are championing our city on a national stage.”
Schedule:
- The event will kick off with the Opening ceremonies scheduled for The Riverside Country Club on Sunday March 29th followed by draws at Riverside and Thistle St-Andrews throughout the week.
- The Championship finals will be held on Sunday April 5th at Riverside concluding with the Medal presentations and the crowning of the 2020 Canadian Masters Curling Champions.
There is still an opportunity to volunteer for this exciting event, please visit the 2020 Canadian Masters Curling Championship Website at https://masterscurling.ca/
Media Inquiries:
Gail Samaan (event co-chair): (506) 651-6114 or gail.samaan@gmail.com
Wayne Cooper (event co-chair): (506) 636-0615 or wcooper@nbnet.nb.ca
Jillian MacKinnon, Director of Marketing & Communications –Discover Saint John: (5060 635-3471) or jillian@discoversaintjohn.com
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