Olympic and world champions in fundraiser for charities, curling facilities.
TORONTO, CANADA – Move over, ladies. The boys are here.
Following seven years of women’s curling calendars, The Curling News and TheCommunityFundraiser.com today announced the launch of the 2014 Men of Curling Calendar.
12 male high-performance curling athletes from four countries have designed and produced their own images for the first-ever Men of Curling Calendar, which will raise funds for more than 10 different causes or charities in addition to curling facilities that wish to use the product as a fundraiser.
“These are not only the best players in the world today, these are also some of the greatest characters the world of curling has to offer,” said Olympic, World and Canadian champion John Morris of Chestermere, Alberta.
“Everyone in these pages is committed to competition, to the growth and positive image of our sport, and to making a difference for people in our communities. It’s a privilege for me to be a part of this.”
The 2014 Men of Curling Calendar is now on sale online at www.menofcurling.com for a price of CDN $29.95, which includes North American shipping and handling.
In addition, each of the 12 athlete models will be selling the product in person at a substantial discount, with a portion of those revenues going to a charitable cause of their choice.
Finally, a third fundraising stream is open to curling facilities that wish to sell the product as an internal fundraiser.
Joining Morris in the 2014 Men of Curling Calendar lineup is a slew of Canadian curling stars including former teammate and fellow Olympic champion Ben Hebert of Calgary; World champion and Olympic silver medallist Carter Rycroft of Grande Prairie, Alberta; World champion Jon Mead of Winnipeg, two-time World winner Craig Savill of Ottawa; defending Canadian champions and world No.1-ranked Brad Jacobs and E.J. Harnden of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; veteran Atlantic Canadian skip Paul Flemming of Halifax and World Curling Tour cash king Mike McEwen of Winnipeg.
Three global superstar skips round out this exclusive group of 12: Defending European and World champion Niklas Edin of Sweden, defending Olympic silver medallist Thomas Ulsrud of Norway, and three-time world champion David Murdoch of Scotland.
The “cover boy” for the 2014 Men of Curling Calendar is Mike McEwen, whose team currently ranks sixth in the world men’s rankings.
“It was an honour to be asked to pose for the calendar, but I was really surprised when they told me about the cover,” said McEwen, who captured the men’s title at the China Open in Beijing earlier today. “There’s 11 other awesome athletes participating, and any one of them could have been chosen to represent this project.”
McEwen said the final go-ahead came from his wife, Dawn McEwen (formerly Askin) who plays lead for the 2008 world women’s champions, Team Jennifer Jones – third-place finishers in Beijing.
“Dawn told me to go for it,” said McEwen. “And besides, she’s the one who actually approved my pictures!”
Each of the 12 athlete models is represented with three images, and each month also includes curling event listings from around the world, colour-coded according to the type of tournament: Men, Women, Men and Women combined, and Mixed/Open.
Cheryl Bernard is one former curling calendar model who is eager to see what her male compatriots have produced.
“Oh, (that’s) hilarious, it’s about time,” said Bernard, the 2010 Olympic silver medallist from Calgary, Alberta, Canada who posed in the 2011 Women of Curling Calendar.
“The girls have done a few calendars, so this is long overdue. It’s charity-driven, so it’s a great fundraising opportunity for various charities and for curling clubs.
“I’m not too surprised, but I’m kind of amazed they all agreed to do it. I can’t wait to see what the guys decided to do with their photos.”