Young Alberta teams 'on the cusp' of making way to Calgary-hosted worlds in 2026

As young players on Alberta’s curling landscape, the world is at the feet of Kayla Skrlik and Selena Sturmay.

So, too, are the actual ‘worlds’ of the sport.

Especially so after learning Wednesday that the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship is coming to Calgary.

“Worlds being in Calgary next year is interesting for us,” said the 27-year-old Skrlik.

“But at this point, any world championship would be crazy exciting for us.”

Continuing a trend — by way of a deal struck 20 years ago — to have the international event hosted on Canadian ice every even year since 2006, WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre will house the women’s worlds from March 14-22.

It’s virtually the backyard for Calgary’s Skrlik and her Garrison Curling Club crew and in the same province as Edmonton’s Sturmay and her Saville Community Sports Centre squad.

And making it there isn’t far-fetched given both Alberta teams are on an upward trajectory and could each have as many as three Scotties Tournament of Hearts under their belts by the time those worlds take to the stage in the city.

“They are on the cusp of making it there,” said Curling Alberta president Gord Copithorne. “There’s no reason they can’t. They are at a calibre where they are in a competition with not a lot of other teams.

“And they can represent us.”

WHO’S IN THE RUNNING TO REP CANADA AT WINSPORT?

One of 18 top-shelf teams will take up that charge for Canada.

Canada’s Rachel Homan and her Ottawa Curling Club squad was that team — and won — at the event last year in Sydney, N.S., snapping a run of four-straight world titles captured by Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni.

And this year’s worlds are slated to be held March 15-23 in Uijeongbu, South Korea.

Of course, the winner of the Scotties next month in Thunder Bay, Ont., will represent Canada at those worlds in Korea. That victor will be either the defending national champion — Homan — one of three high-ranked Canadian Team Ranking System sides — including Sturmay — or a territorial or provincial winner — such as Alberta champ Skrlik.

Then it’s the winner of next year’s Scotties in Mississauga, Ont. — with rules for qualifying yet to be confirmed — which earns the right to wear the maple leaf at the 2026 worlds at WinSport.

Even though Canada boasts an event-high 18 triumphs at the women’s worlds, dating back to their inception in 1979, an Alberta crew has yet to claim such a title.

But just seeing one on the ice at WinSport — Skrlik, Sturmay or some yet-to-come-from-out-of-the-blue rink — would significantly draw more local appeal to the championship.

“That would be phenomenal to see an Alberta team there for us,” agreed Copithorne. “It’s great for any local community to have their team at the provincial, the national and — in the case — the world championship. It creates a completely different lens on what that event looks like for fans.”

As it stands, however, there will still be plenty of excitement for supporters taking in the 10-day event.

It’ll undoubtedly feature a who’s who of women’s curling.

WHY CALGARY FOR THE WORLDS?

Calgarians have proven they can put on the show and take one in on the pebbled ice.

“This will be our 12th championship that will be awarded to Calgary here at WinSport since the start of the bubble,” said Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen. “We’ve run a lot of events here, so we know what we’re doing and what to expect. So our partners at Tourism Calgary have been amazing, and we’re excited to work with them again.”

Included were the Scotties last spring, when a total of 63,971 fans tripped 10 days worth of turnstiles to watch Canada’s best women curlers in the near-3,000-seat Markin MacPhail Centre.

Before that, Calgary’s WinSport last hosted the women’s worlds during the 2021 curling bubble, with COVID protocols icing the entire schedule of major curling events. That bubble also saw WinSport host the Scotties, the Brier, the men’s worlds and two Grand Slam of Curling events — all in succession.

“This time, thank heavens we get to have fans in the building,” said Curling Canada’s Al Cameron. “That’s going to be freaking awesome.”

Awesome for the coffers, says Tourism Calgary’s Carson Ackroyd, is the event will drive just over $11-million worth of economic impact for the city during its run here.

And that bottom line will be helped by the expected upswing of a curling audience coming off the 2026 Winter Olympics, slated to culminate just three weeks before these worlds.

“Our team works very hard to try and drive really exciting events for Calgary and visitors to come and experience the city in some of the slower periods,” Ackroyd said. “As you might imagine, between June and September, we see more than half our visitors come during that time-frame. But when we can bring events like this to the city, we see a whole bunch of people starting to experience Calgary in the winter.

“And you can see from last year’s events in February (including the Scotties) that we brought, Calgarians came out in droves. So Calgary is gaining a reputation of delivering exceptional results.”

‘EASY DECISION’ TO PICK CALGARY

In 2005, a decision was made to separate the world men’s and women’s championships, with an agreement made between Curling Canada and World Curling that Canada would host one of the tournaments annually.

So with the men’s worlds set this year for Moose Jaw, Sask., a Canadian venue was needed for the women’s finale in 2026.

Cue the Calgary commitment, a clear winner over “multiple” applicants during what was an open-bid process and not simply a reward for having produced a successful fan-less run of events in the 2021 bubble.

“It was an easy decision … it was the best bid,” added Thiessen. “You know … it obviously pays to know that when we’ve been some place and we know how good it is, that information gets factored in.

“With our big events, we need a curling community that’s actively engaged, and this city and tourism certainly is super engaged. And we need a building that really wants us here, and we got that in WinSport.”

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

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