Charlottetown native Brett Gallant first Islander to win Brier
(By Steve Bruce, CBC News)
A day after watching his son Brett sweep the final rock that propelled Newfoundland and Labrador to victory in the Brier championship, Peter Gallant is still overcome with emotion. “I’m still over the top here,” said Gallant, from South Korea, where he’s coaching that country’s women’s national team.
“I cried here half the morning … And you know, every now and then I still get a message from someone, and it still brings a tear. I know how much it meant to Brett.”
Coached by his parents
Brett Gallant has been a part of Brad Gushue’s Newfoundland rink since 2012. But the 27-year-old grew up curling in Charlottetown, coached for much of his young career by his parents, Peter and Kathie, both long-time competitive curlers themselves.
Brett’s dad Peter looks on nervously during the Brier final. Peter is in South Korea, where he is coaching the women’s national team. (Peter Gallant)
“My wife was saying she remembers watching the Brier with him when he was eight or nine years old, and he was saying, ‘someday I’m going to be there and win that.’ I mean, he wanted to be a curler all his life. And to see him obtain that goal of winning the Brier — something I always wanted to do as a curler and couldn’t do it — now he’s done it, and it’s pretty amazing.”
P.E.I. as a province has never won the Brier championship. On Sunday night, Brett Gallant became the first individual Islander to win as part of another province’s team.