2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup headed to Leduc, Alta.

The race to Beijing will be heating up in 13 months when Canada’s best men’s and women’s curling teams gather in Leduc, Alta., for the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup, it was announced today by Curling Canada.

The Leduc Recreation Centre will play host to the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup. (Photo, courtesy City of Leduc)

The 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup will be one of the key events as teams begin their chases in earnest for berths into the 2021 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings, which will decide Canada’s men’s and women’s four-player curling teams for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup will be played Nov. 27-Dec. 1 at the 1,500-seat Sobeys Arena, which is part of the Leduc Recreation Centre.

“Curling fans in Leduc and nearby Edmonton will get a wonderful opportunity to watch a world-class competition during the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup,” said Maureen Miller, Chair of Curling Canada’s Board of Governors. “We’ve seen in the past that Leduc has an amazing core of volunteers who put on first-class curling events, and I know the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup is in good hands.”

Leduc is no stranger to hosting high-profile curling events; earlier this year, the Leduc Recreation Centre played host to the Curl 4 Canada festival, which saw four Canadian championships contested: the Canadian Mixed Doubles, Canadian Wheelchair, U-SPORTS Canadian University and CCAA Canadian College Championships.

Prior to that, Leduc hosted the 2013 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship, the 1994 Canadian Mixed Championship and the 1991 Canadian Junior Men’s and Women’s Championships.

“It’s an incredible honour to be selected as the host city of the Home Hardware Canada Cup of Curling for 2019,” said Leduc Mayor Bob Young. “Leduc is excited to welcome all of the athletes, coaches, sponsors, family and friends to our city. Hosting this significant event at the Leduc Recreation Centre is a point of pride for the city, all thanks to our dedicated curling and volunteer community.”

“We are very excited to be able to host the 2019 Home Hardware Cup,” said Shaye Anderson, MLA for Leduc-Beaumont. “Leduc has consistently hosted world-class sporting events, and this will be no exception. I know our volunteers, sponsors, and supporters will do an incredible job, and I look forward to this opportunity to showcase our community and cheer on the athletes!”

Canada’s best curling teams will be playing in the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup at Sobeys Arena in Leduc. (Photo, courtesy City of Leduc)

It will be the 15th edition of the Home Hardware Canada Cup. In addition to cash prizes, the winning teams will also be guaranteed of berths into the 2021 Road to the Roar Pre-Trials, which will be the final qualifying event for the 2021 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings. Additionally, the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup champions will play in the 2020 World Financial Group Continental Cup (dates, location to be announced) and will represent Canada at a Curling World Cup event during the 2020-21 season.

“We’re excited to welcome the Home Hardware Canada Cup back to Alberta for the fourth time since 2010,” said Jill Richard, Executive Director of Curling Alberta. “There’s a genuine passion in our province for hosting curling championships, and that’s particularly true in Leduc, which has a dedicated group of volunteers as well as an amazing facility that will be a true showcase for Canada’s best teams.”

Seven men’s and seven women’s teams will be invited to play at the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup. The first six teams of each gender will be determined based on the final results of the 2018-19 Canadian Team Ranking System and will be announced in May 2019.

One more team in each gender will be decided based on the CTRS standings from the 2019-20 season as of mid-November next year.

“We’re thrilled that Curling Canada has given us this opportunity to put on the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup in our hometown, and we are ready to get to work,” said Dawn Gavin, vice-chair of the Leduc Host Committee. “We’re going to give curlers and curling fans alike an early Christmas present with our hospitality. We can’t wait to see the first rock thrown!”

The Home Hardware Canada Cup was staged in Kamloops, B.C., for the first six years, beginning with its debut in 2003. It has since been played in Yorkton, Sask., Medicine Hat, Alta.,  Cranbrook, B.C., Moose Jaw, Camrose, Alta., Grande Prairie, Alta., and, most recently, in Brandon, Man., in 2016, where teams skipped by Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers and Jennifer Jones prevailed.

“Home Hardware is proud to sponsor the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup,” said Kevin Macnab, President and CEO, Home Hardware Stores Limited. “We serve over 1,000 communities across Canada and curling is a sport that brings these Canadian communities together. We are pleased to support such an important sport for our country.”

The Home Hardware Canada Cup isn’t played in Olympic seasons, and is replaced in the schedule by the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings.

Tickets will go on sale in February. Details will be announced close to the on-sale date.

The 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup is scheduled for Dec. 5-9 in Estevan, Sask. Tickets are available at curling.ca/tickets.

TSN/RDS2 will provide complete broadcast coverage of the 2019 Home Hardware Canada Cup.