The host teams are picked, early plans are in place and now tickets are officially on sale for the 2023 Canadian Wheelchair Curling championship.
And it’s more than safe to say this day has been a long time coming.
After seeing the tournament cancelled due to the pandemic the last three years -- including when Moose Jaw was first supposed to host in 2021 and again in 2022 -- it’s a relief for organizing committee chair Moose Gibson to see things moving along toward the Mar. 19-25 weekend at the Moose Jaw Curling Centre.
“It’s getting real now,” Gibson said with a laugh shortly after the ticket sales announcement. “We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time and I’m just excited that it’s finally going to happen.”
Day passes for the tournament are $20 each and cover two draws a day, with a package covering the whole championship running $75. Tickets are available as of Dec. 1 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre and through SaskTix.ca.
“This makes it a perfect opportunity for all the curlers to get a Christmas package under the tree,” Gibson said. “You get a chance to see some of the best wheelchair curlers not only in Canada but in the world playing in our own rink, so it’s going to be huge.”
There will be no shortage of local curlers to cheer on, either. Canadian Paralympic bronze medalist Marie Wright will join fellow Team Canada player Gil Dash, Team Sask veteran Darwin Bender and Gibson on one foursome, while Rod Pederson, Cheryl Pederson, Russell Whitsitt and former Canadian track and basketball Paralympian Stewart McKeown will make up another Team Saskatchewan crew.
Those teams have been working alongside coach Lorraine Arguin to prepare and will be doing so on a regular basis in the lead-up to nationals. Off the ice, various sub-committees are also starting to ramp up preparations, with Curl Canada making an official site visit early in the new year.
The call for volunteers will be going out soon, with notices on Facebook and sign-up sheets at the rink, and anyone who wants to get a jump on that side of things can contact the Moose Jaw Curling Centre office at (306) 624-2048 or send an e-mail to rwenarchuk@mjec.ca.
“It’s all a huge undertaking, this is the first time we’ve gotten this far with the ticket launch, so we’re looking forward to it all as the date gets closer and closer,” Gibson said.
“We really want to do a great job, so everyone who plays here will say ‘wow, I had a great time, I want to go back to Moose Jaw’ and maybe that’ll lead to even more big events in the future.”
Be sure to visit the Moose Jaw Curling Centre Facebook at www.facebook.com/MJCurlingCentre for plenty of updates as the national championship tournament gets closer.
