Even though it’s still summer, Atlantic Canada’s top curlers are preparing to hit the ice. The Brad Gushue rink from Newfoundland and Labrador, which includes PEI natives Brett Gallant and Adam Casey, and the Suzanne Birt rink, reigning PEI women’s champs, are among the teams that are practicing at the APM Centre in Cornwall on Friday and Saturday, following the Whitecap Junior Curling Camp.

Photo from Team Gushue’s Facebook page: lead Geoff Walker (pictured) and skip Brad Gushue will be travelling to the APM Centre in a Fiat 500

This year’s Team Birt includes third Shelly Bradley, second Michelle McQuaid, and lead Susan McInnis. Leslie MacDougall retired from competitive curling over the summer, while Sarah Fullerton has left  the team to study Occupational Therapy at Dalhousie University in Halifax. The team will be competing September 12-15 at Charlottetown’s CARI Complex in the Curl Atlantic Championship, the premiere annual curling event for the region. The highly competitive event is comprised of twelve men’s teams and twelve women’s teams vying for their respective divisional titles. Both the men’s and women’s divisions will have two pools of six teams and a round-robin style prior to play-off rounds. Birt won the inaugural Curl Atlantic Championship in 2011.

Click for rosters of teams entered (PDF)

Island curlers will also get a chance to curl in September, as the ice is scheduled to go in at the end of August at the Crapaud Community Curling Club for pre-season curling, from September 3 – October 31, 2013. For further information on pre-season curling please contact Miranda Peters at [email protected]. or at 902-213-2711.