So the thing I've been sitting on and teasing for several months finally got announced today. The first news story I've found on it is here, but I'm sure there will be more as the day progresses. It's already catching a lot of people by surprise.
Basically, it's this. Iqaluit, Nunavut will be hosting the 2009 Mixed Curling Championships. Now, bear with me a moment while I explain this. Because it's taking place during the 2008-09 curling season, they're being called the 2009 championships. The actual date of it, however, is in 2008. Specifically November 9-16.
That means some of the very best curlers in the world are going to be coming to town for a week or more. It's going to be a great chance for people in town to see some amazing curling. But, just as importantly, it's a fantastic chance to really boost the sport in Nunavut. A lot of the details are still to be worked out and announced, but certainly one of the main focuses is to get youth involved as much as possible.
As for whether or not Nunavut will have a team there, that's still in negotiations. Because of the way the tournament is structured, neither the NWT or Yukon play individually. They have a tournament to decide who represents The Territories. Our hope is to get a team in that play down.
These things move slowly sometimes. It's taken months to get to this point. And up until this point, Nunavut's only representation in national curling events has been the participation of our junior teams at the Arctic Winter Games and the Canada Winter Games. In my dream world (and I'm speaking for myself throughout this entire blog, by the way, and not for the CCA or the local curling committee), it would be great if we could have a team in this year's territorial play downs or next years. Follow that up with the junior teams playing at the national tournament in a couple of years, and then maybe, just maybe, sending men's and women's teams to the Brier and Scotties territorial play downs sometime shortly after that.
There's going to be a lot of work that needs to be done in the next couple of months. Cathy and I have already sat down and discussed the commitment that's going to be need. And we both agree this is such a unique opportunity that it would be silly for me to pass up a chance of getting involved.
However, if you're in town and want to volunteer or help out, drop me a line or leave a message on the blog. And if you're from away and want to know more about the place, feel free to ask away. I'll answer any questions you might have.
And sorry, folks. That means a lot more curling discussions in the coming months. You're just going to have to deal....
Last Five
1. Miami - U2
2. Happy - Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
3. Stupid now - Bob Mould
4. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot*
5. This is the last time - Keane
4 comments:
I confess to thinking, initially, that putting the words "big news" and "curling" together was a bit of a stretch, but you have delivered the goods. This is the real deal. Congrats!
I KNEW it! ;-)
Aaaah, you could have spilled the beans a day or two in advance; look at the Oly Trials announcement, the word broke in the media yesterday and the official announcement is scheduled for Friday...
Congrats to the north – big news!
I am but a lowly board member of the local curling club, so I'm certainly not going to be the one to spill the beans early. Last thing I'm doing is annoying the CCA by leaking this.
But thanks for the congrats. We're really excited by this up here.
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