Let’s rock
Prince George announced as host city for 2020 World Women’s Curling Championship
The globe is coming to rock P.G. Prince George has been selected as the host city for the 2020 World Women’s Curling Championship, one of the top tournaments the sport has to offer, and the only one outside of the Olympics where the very best on the planet try to sweep to ultimate victory.
“This is a great opportunity for Prince George,” said this city’s veteran curling star Patti Knezevic. “Really, women’s curling has evolved and elevated unbelievably in the past 10 years, so this will be incredible for all of British Columbia.
“Curling in B.C. has been a little down in numbers, for various reasons,” Knezevic added, “but I think we can use this event to draw some inspiration to the sport, draw some attention, and see some good light cast in Prince George on a sport that we do really well here.”
There could be no fresher or plainer example of that than Prince George’s Kristen Pilote (nee Fewster) along with skip Sarah Wark, second Carley Sandwith and lead Michelle Dunn (all of Abbotsford) plus P.G.’s Jen Rusnell as fifth and Rick Fewster as coach, winning the B.C. women’s title only days ago. That rink will now represent the province at the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Prince George’s Brette Richards and Blaine de Jager were part of a rink that took bronze in the same tournament. Their coach, Doug Dalziel, is from Prince George and their fifth...Patti Knezevic.
Another sign of Prince George’s overall curling connection was the man Knezevic grabbed by the arm at the Tuesday announcement and proclaimed “this is who first taught me to curl.”
The passerby was Gerry Peckham, the director of high performance for Curling Canada.
“I have just enough Fraser River water in my veins to make this always home,” said Peckham, now based in Ottawa, who emotionally told of the way this city formed his love of the sport and shaped his lifelong motivations. “Curling is a fabulous sport, Prince George is a fabulous town, and I’m thrilled at the possibilities.”
Mayor Lyn Hall is originally from Dawson Creek and remembers coming to Prince George for tennis tournaments only to fall to Peckham on the court. Even then, said Hall, sport was clear a strength.
“I can’t think of a better person to make this announcement, Gerry, thank you very, very much,” said Hall, who pointed out that curling icon Jennifer Jones is about to be in the city as the VIP guest speaker at the UNBC Timberwolves Legacy Breakfast on Mar. 6, and she won this championship twice (both times on Canadian soil) so would have some insight into how Prince George fans should feel about hosting this prestigious event.
Scott Braley, CEO of Curl BC, was on hand to express his confidence in Prince George’s facilities and abilities.
“You’ve done very well here to attract this event,” Braley said. “2020 is the 125th anniversary of curling in B.C. and the 100th anniversary of curling in Prince George. These are incredible milestones... This will be one of those events that others will build from. You’re going to be wonderful hosts yet again.”
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Curling Canada’s director of communications, Al Cameron, pointed to the strength of this city’s bid committee as a chief reason the event is coming here.
“This bid committee just knocked us over and made it impossible to say no,” he said, singling out CN Centre general manager Glen Mikkelsen in particular. Mikkelsen was also highly involved in the bid to host the 2020 Brier (the national men’s championship) for which Prince George was denied for now, but made the national short-list.
“This event is no consolation prize,” said Mikkelsen, holding a globe papered with sticky-notes indicating all the places from which curlers and their support teams and fans would be coming to converge here in a year.
He said it is always a fan’s thrill “whenever you see the world’s best” going head to head in any activity, and with the long and celebrated history of curling in this region, this would be a special event indeed. He encouraged businesses, neighbourhoods, schools and the general public to think up ways to decorate the town and put Prince George’s best foot forward when the television cameras and visitors touch down next year.
The World Women’s Curling Championship is scheduled for March 14-22 in 2020.