It was a season to remember for Ontario curlers, and it resulted in historic results, it was announced today by Curling Canada.
Curling Ontario swept all three of Curling Canada’s annual Member Association season-long Cup competitions, the first time it’s happened since the awards were established.
Each of the 14 Member Association earns points based on the performance of its respective provincial/territorial championship-winning teams from the 15 national championship events that are either operated by, or sanctioned by, Curling Canada.
Those include the Montana’s Brier; the Scotties Tournament of Hearts; the New Holland Canadian Under-20 Men’s and Women’s Championships; the Canadian Under-18 Championships; the Canadian Senior Men’s and Women’s Championships; the Canadian Curling Club Men’s and Women’s Championships; the Canadian Mixed Championship; the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship; the Canadian Wheelchair Championship; and the Canadian Masters (60 and over) Men’s and Women’s Championships.
Curling Ontario won the overall Member Associations Cup based on its performance at all events. Ontario champion teams finished in the top five among fellow provincial and territorial champions at all 15 national championships this past season, and posted an average point total of 12.63 (out of 14) at each event. That’s the highest average score ever posted since the MA Cup competition began in the 2013-14 season.
Among the highlights was a sweep of the Canadian Masters Championships gold medals by Ontario’s Team Mary Chilvers and Team Bryan Cochrane in April in Grande Prairie, Alta.; women’s gold (Team Sherry Middaugh) and men’s silver (Team Mike Harris) at the Canadian Senior Curling Championships in December in Ottawa; and women’s gold (Team Lindsay Thorne) and men’s bronze (Team Bryan Cochrane) at the Canadian Curling Club Championships in November in Winnipeg.
It was the fifth time Curling Ontario has captured the MA Cup; past wins were in 2022-23, 2021-22, 2017-18 and 2016-17.
Those results played a significant role in helping Ontario capture the Governors’ Cup as the Member Association that has the best year-to-year improvement in back-to-back full seasons.
It’s the second time Curling Ontario has captured the Governors’ Cup; its first win was in 2016-17.
Curling Ontario completed the sweep by claiming its first For the Love of Curling Cup, which goes to the Member Association that has the best combined results at Curling Canada’s NextGen events — the New Holland Canadian Under-20 Men’s and Women’s Championships and the Canadian Under-18 Championships.
Ontario champion teams claimed three medals at the NextGen events, with Team Evan MacDougall winning men’s gold at the New Holland Canadian Under-20 Championships in March in Sudbury, Ont., while Team Charlotte Wilson won girls silver and Team Tyler MacTavish took boys bronze at the Canadian Under-18 Championships in February in Timmins, Ont.
