Title sponsor in place for World Men’s Curling Championship
The official sponsor for the 2019 World Men’s Curling Championship in Lethbridge next year has been planted.
Pioneer Hi-Bred has been named as the title sponsor for 2019 event, which will take place March 30-April 7 at the Enmax Centre.
“Pioneer Hi-Bred is just a really good fit for curling,” said Al Cameron, director of communications and media relations for Curling Canada at the announcement Thursday morning at the Enmax Centre Lounge. “Obviously, the roots of the sport are in agricultural parts of Canada and there's a very natural tie-in. I know they are very excited not only for the tie-in here in Canada, but the fact they get to spread the word about their products around the world as this event will be carried, literally, around the world. It’s a huge market outside of Canada that will be exposed to them as well. It was an easy sell to them in an easy sell for us as well.”
Loralee Orr, marketing communications leader for Corteva Agriscience Agriculture Division of DowDuPont — who offer Pioneer brand products — noted the strong farming connection in the community.
“It’s the bread and butter of what we do. Curling has such a rooted connection in rural communities. I come from a rural community and it really was the gathering place for everybody. We learned how to curl, we spent time with our neighbours. It’s just got such a connection to the people that we work with everyday.
“Lethbridge is probably our largest location of employees in Western Canada. So it’s a great location for us for that reason as well.”
With the title sponsor in place, the field of teams competing will soon follow.
“What’s really interesting at this time of year is we’re going to start seeing the field take shape,” said Cameron. “There are going to be 13 countries participating and we’ll know two of those countries by the end of this week. The Pacific/Asia championships are taking place right now, so the top-two finishers there will qualify and then the European championship will start and we’ll get seven teams out of that. So it’s going to be interesting over the next few weeks to see which countries will be coming chasing team Canada. We know whoever wins the Tim Hortons Brier is who will be the team coming to Lethbridge.”
The event is still looking for volunteers.
“We could use about another 200 volunteers in various areas,” said Cameron. “It’s a great opportunity for the volunteers because they get some access that the fans won’t necessarily get and it’s a great way to give back to the curling community. They get a chance to make this a success in the eyes of not only Canada, but around the world.”
To volunteer, visit
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