Curling Canada announced Thursday that the 2021 Wheelchair Nationals will take place at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre Mar. 21-27, 2021.
“Saskatchewan has proven to be a strong supporter of wheelchair curling in our country, and it’ll be thrilling to see this event played in the hometown of one of our most accomplished national team athletes, Marie Wright,” said John Shea, chair of Curling Canada’s board of governors. “Moose Jaw has a dedicated group of fans and volunteers and I know they’ll throw their support behind the 2021 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship.”
Wright’s legacy is well known in the community and played a large role in the event coming back to Saskatchewan.
Regina hosted the tournament in 2016, with Saskatchewan’s Darwin Bender, alongside Wright, thrilling the home-province fans with a gold-medal victory. Wright also helped Canada capture a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang.
Fellow Moose Javian Moose Gibson, who played lead for the 2016 gold-medal team and was the alternate two years later for Saskatchewan, will be the chair of the 2021 Moose Jaw host committee.
“I’ve had the privilege of playing in this event a number of times, but I’m truly proud to finally bring this event to Moose Jaw,” said Gibson. “Our committee has a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re ready to do that work to make this event special for the competitors and fans alike.”
Moose Jaw has a further connection to wheelchair curling in that it has also hosted several national level training camps over the years and played a role in helping select the national team.
‘We’re very excited to welcome the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship back to Saskatchewan, and especially pleased that Moose Jaw will have the opportunity to host this event,” said Ashley Howard, executive director of CurlSask. “Marie and Moose Jaw have represented that city proudly on the national scene, and I know they’ll be thrilled to have the opportunity to host this championship in 2021. At the same time, this will be a valuable opportunity for the wheelchair sports community to see the benefits, both social and physical, of being involved in wheelchair curling, especially when you have the opportunity to wear Saskatchewan green in Moose Jaw!”
The 2020 wheelchair nationals are slated for Apr. 25-30 in Boucherville, Que.
The 2021 event will mark the third national curling championship hosted by Moose Jaw in the last six years after the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the upcoming 2020 Scotties here in February.
