Ian MacAulay of P.E.I. recently faced off against some of the best curlers in the world at the World Senior Men’s Curling Championship in Lethbridge, Alberta. The team finished with the silver medal.
“Representing Canada is pretty special,” said MacAulay, who is back on P.E.I. at his cottage near Souris for a couple of weeks.
“Putting on the jacket the first time, I got choked up a bit and to see all of your family out there it’s pretty special.”
Ian MacAulay focuses on a shot at the World Senior Curling Championship in Lethbridge, Alberta. (Submitted by Ian MacAulay)
There was a large contingent from P.E.I. at the Worlds to cheer him on. Not surprising considering MacAulay has 42 first cousins on his mother’s side, and even more on his father’s.
Ian MacAulay and Team Canada had a large group of fans in the stands in Lethbridge, Alberta. (Submitted by Ian MacAulay)
MacAulay got his start at the Souris Curling Club as a teenager, working as a volunteer to the club’s ice makers.
He moved to Ottawa as a mechanic, but needed to find another career after injuring his back. He found it making curling ice.
“Passion for the game, I guess,” recalled MacAulay about what attracted him.
“I really loved making ice and turned it into a full-time career.”
Ian MacAulay and his son Jeremy helped to turn the Souris hockey rink into a temporary curling club in April 2010. (Submitted by Ian MacAulay)
MacAulay is currently the ice maker for two clubs in Ottawa, where he sometimes comes in at 6 a.m. to get in some practice time.
He has also helped to get curling up and running again in Souris, on a makeshift curling sheet at the local rink.
“My son and I came down to help Colin LaVie,” he explained.
Islanders take the world
MacAulay joins an impressive list of Prince Edward Islanders who have curled at world championships, including the Bill Jenkins rink, world junior champions in 1977.
Suzanne Gaudet of Summerside, P.E.I. skipped her team to gold the 2001 World Juniors.
Brett Gallant and his teammates won silver at the 2009 World Junior Curling Championships.
Last month, Gallant won world gold as part of Team Canada.
Ian MacAulay and his teammates won silver at the Worlds. (Submitted by Ian MacAulay)
Is there something in the water?
“We’ve always been a factory at producing really talented young curlers,” said well-known curling coach Al Ledgerwood.
While curlers in other provinces could live long distances from the best curlers, on P.E.I., they shared the ice.
“It is the natural advantage of a junior on P.E.I.,” said Ledgerwood.
“If you were a young junior team, you got to play the best.”
President of the P.E.I. Curling Hall of Fame and Museum Jerry Muzika has also watched world champions emerge on P.E.I.
“The curlers from P.E.I. who have been successful on the wider curling stage know the game well, they practice, they take advantage of learning opportunities,” said Muzika.
‘A little bit more passion’
P.E.I.’s newest world silver medallist has his own theory.
“People from small towns have a little bit more passion for whatever they do, whether it’s curling, hockey.”
“Maybe the lifestyle on the Island is the reason,” he said. “I’m not sure, but it’s a great question.”
Click for full story at CBC PEI