St. Catharines’ Brier bid comes up short

Despite having support full support from the City of St. Catharines, Niagara Region and other community partners, the Garden City’s bid to host the 2020 Brier was unsuccessful.

Curling Canada has decided that the men’s national curling championship will instead be hosted in Kingston, Ont.

“We had a very strong bid package,” said Doug Geddie, chair of the 2020 Brier Bid committee, adding its members were fortunate to have had the full support also of the St. Catharines Downtown Association, St. Catharines Golf and Country Club and SMG Canada.

There were four cities bidding to host the championship. Moncton, N.B., and Prince George, B.C. were also vying to be hosts.

“While we are disappointed that St. Catharines is not the winning bid, we remain committed to hosting a future Brier championship,” said Mayor Walter Sendzik in a media release.

“Our community has a long history of curling and hosting major tournaments, including the 2017 Scotties and this will not be the last one. Thanks to the bid committee and Niagara Region for your support — we’ll be back next time.”

Regional Chair Alan Caslin said his council was pleased to support the bid and is encouraged by Niagara’s demonstrated history and future as a strong sporting community.

“We look forward to engaging in future championship bids as we prepare to host the 2021 Canada Summer Games,” he said.

In February, the bid committee announced it had officially submitted its letter of intent to Curling Canada to host the championship. In an effort to show community support, Meridian Centre teamed up with Ticketmaster to start selling advanced tickets. The all-event ticket passes, sold for $10 each.

Geddie said all money will be refunded.

“The Brier is the biggest of all curling events in Canada,” he said. “When we hosted the 2017 Scotties, the national women’s curling championship, it was a great success, and the Brier seemed like the logical next step.

“I’m not quite ready to let that idea go but we will look at some other opportunities.”

ANDREW VAUGHAN THE CANADIAN PRESS Ontario skip John Epping, right, watches as Team Canada third Mark Nichols, skip Brad Gushue and lead Geoff Walker, left to right, move a rock in the eight-team championship round at the Tim Hortons Brier at the Brandt Centre in Regina in March.