Canada’s top curling teams are trying to cobble together a competitive fall season despite the COVID-19 pandemic decimating the calendar.
The Grand Slam of Curling was whittled from six events this winter to just two scheduled for next April and November’s Canada Cup of Curling was cancelled, creating a competitive void for the country’s elite curlers.
The annual Stu Sells Tankards in Oakville, Ont., and Toronto were both moved to Waterloo, Ont., for the weekends of Oct. 2-4 and Oct. 9-12.
Jacobs, John Epping, Glenn Howard, Jennifer Jones and Rachel Homan are among teams entered to play at the Kitchener-Waterloo Granite Club.
(L-R) Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant, Geoff Walker
Reigning Canadian champions Brad Gushue and Kerri Einarson are not.
Gushue, from St. John’s, N.L., said his team will likely enter Atlantic Canada events only for the rest of 2020.
If the three-time national champion and his teammates left the region to curl, they would have to quarantine for 14 days upon return under current provincial public health regulations.
“To go play a four-day event and have to quarantine for 14, the cost-benefit analysis doesn’t add up,” Gushue said.
“We’re probably just going to play three events where typically we’d play in seven to 10 events.”