Islanders proud to play for P.E.I. at Tim Hortons Brier (Guardian)

Morgan Currie will curl for Prince Edward Island tonight at the Tim Hortons Brier for the first time ever.

“It’s really a surreal experience,” the Ottawa resident said earlier this week while preparing for the men’s national curling championship in Kingston, Ont.

Curling Canada implemented a new birthright status rule in the spring for this year’s Brier and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. It allowed athletes to choose playing in the province they live in or where they were born.

Team P.E.I. is ready for the Tim Hortons Brier in Kingston, Ont. Kneeling, from left, are skip Bryan Cochrane, third Ian MacAulay, second Morgan Currie and lead Mark O’Rourke. Standing is coach Ken Sullivan. Curling Canada/Michael Burns

Currie, a 55-year-old Summerside native, and 55-year-old Souris native Ian MacAulay won a world senior men’s championship in 2019 in Norway and decided after hearing about the national rule change to come back to P.E.I. to play in the Tankard.

The duo, who live in Ontario now, teamed with import skip Bryan Cochrane from their world championship squad and Cumberland’s Mark O’Rourke to go undefeated at Island championship, earning the right to represent P.E.I. at the nationals.

“It’s something that neither I, nor my friend Ian, would have thought possible before the rule change,” Currie said.

“Ian and Morgan were just over the top when they won,” O’Rourke said. “They always had this dream that they could represent P.E.I. They live in Ottawa, but they’re Islanders.”

There’s a lot of events attached to the Brier, but Currie knew what he was looking forward to the most.

“Ian and I agreed that the big moment for us will be when we get those Prince Edward Island jackets – those uniforms – and we put them on,” he said. “We both left for job opportunities or school earlier in life, but we’re true Islanders at heart. It’s a great honour to be able to wear those colours at the Brier.”

P.E.I. opens play against Nunavut at 8 p.m. Atlantic and the team members know the importance of a strong start.

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