The Whitehorse Curling Club will be in the national spotlight next spring as host of the 2015 Canadian Masters Curling Championship, it was announced last week.
“It’s a great opportunity for the club,” said club president Mark Evans. “It’s great for the club in that it creates interest in the game. And it brings people to Whitehorse, which is good for all sorts of reasons, not directly related to tourism, in terms of tourism.
“For the club itself, it helps raise interest in the game for club members. Whenever there’s any national-level competition, it raises everyone’s game. It makes them want to compete.”
The Masters is a national championship for athletes 60 and over. The first championship was held in 1987 and was a men’s tournament until a women’s side of the championship was added in 2000.
It will be the first time the Whitehorse club hosts the Masters and the first time the club hosts a national championships since it housed the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship in 2006.
It’s a great chance for the club to showcase the facility and local volunteers, said Evans.
“It also brings awareness of curling in the Yukon, and obviously the Whitehorse Curling Club, to the national level, like the Canadian Curling Association,” he said.
“We haven’t hosted a national championships in a long time so this will be a great opportunity to put our organization in place and hopefully be able to bid for other national competitions in the future.”
Playdowns for Yukon’s spots in the championship will be held at the Whitehorse club in December. The Masters is sanctioned by the Canadian Curling Association and will take place March 29 to April 5.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com