Canada’s elite Indigenous curlers faced off in the first edition of the Chisasibi Curling Classic last month.
The Cree Nation of Chisasibi, a village home to nearly 5,000 people on the west coast of Quebec, hosted 10 of the country’s top curlers in the historic event.
Four-time Scotties champion and Gimli’s own Kerri Einarson, along with Canadian curling greats Al Hackner, Carolyn McRorie, Kevin Koe, Jamie Koe, Kerry Galusha, Joe Wallingham, Patty Wallingham, Mike McCarville, and Colin Hodgson gathered in Montreal on April 17 before taking the two-hour charter flight northwest to Chisasibi.
Upon their arrival in Chisasibi, the curlers were greeted by many locals and given a grand tour around the village, followed by a traditional meal.
“We were pretty excited because we knew who all the curlers were,” said Chisasibi recreation coordinator Roy Neacappo.
“We took them around, had goose over the fire, bannock and tea. Friday, they met the students at the school. We also took them to our local radio station and interviewed them throughout the day. We had a minibus for them to show them around the community.”
The plan to bring the curlers to Chisasibi had been in the works since Fall 2023 when Hodgson, aside from curling, works for Classroom Champions. This national organization empowers children to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally through the mentorship of world-class athletes, reaching out to the 10 Indigenous curlers to see if they could come to teach the locals how to play and have a competitive match themselves.
In the week before the event, the village got to work in preparation. Students were taught floor curling in gym classes, while staff at the local hockey rink pebbled the ice to make two stunning curling sheets with a colourful medicine wheel button.
When it came time for the big game, many of the village’s locals showed up to cheer on their new friends.
“A lot of people showed up to watch,” said Einarson. “There were 10 of us curlers on the ice so we kind of rotated playing five on five. There were lots of great shots made and the ice was really well done so it was lots of fun.”
Einarson’s Team Sunset, including Hodgson, Joe Wallingham, Hackner, and McRorie, went on to claim a 7-5 victory through eight ends of play over Team Northern Lights’ Kevin Koe, Jamie Koe, Galusha, Patty Wallingham, and McCarville in a tight contest to the end.
“We didn’t think we would beat them because they were pretty stacked but me managed to pull it off,” said Einarson. “It was so much fun. We all just really enjoyed the experience and had fun with it.”
Throughout the rest of the trip, the curlers also had the opportunity to teach various curling clinics to students from the local schools and adults who wanted to try the sport.
They were divided into different groups: students aged 5 to 8, 9 to 14, 14 and up, and adults in the evening.
Neacappo was happy to see how much everyone was invested in it and called it a success.
“The event was a lot of hard work putting it on, but it paid off,” said Neacappo. “The reaction we got from the community was very positive. World-class athletes came to our community to put a little show on for us, so we were very excited about that.”
The curlers have since left Chisasibi but remain in touch as they plan to host the second annual Chisasibi Curling Classic next year.
The rink plans to keep the curling sheets intact until June, with a community send-off event on the last day.
