From Saskatoon to France to the 2024 Montana’s Brier for this volunteer

What, one might wonder, is a person born in Saskatoon, then raised and still living in France, be doing volunteering at the 2024 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, in Regina?

Simple answer. Celebrating his 50^th birthday and having a blast. Mathieu Chauveau got hooked on curling about 10 years ago and when he saw the Brier was happening in Regina “on the year of my 50^th birthday I decided to come here as a 50^th birthday present to myself.”

Rather than just come as a fan, Chauveau decided volunteering would be a terrific way to get to know people as well as “get a look at behind the scenes of the operation.”

Just a few days into the Montana’s Brier he’s having a blast.

“When I first came, I was not so sure how it would work out and everybody’s super friendly,” said Chauveau, who now lives in the Provence region, an hour away from Marseille. “You get to talk to the other volunteers, all the volunteers here they know 15 other people in the building, so you really get close to people real quickly.”

Chauveau’s parents are French, but he was born in Saskatoon while his father, a uranium miner, was posted there. He was recalled to France by his company when Chauveau was three.

“I have lived in France most of my life now. I picked up curling about 10 years ago almost as a joke. I was living near Paris; we had watched curling in the Olympics with some friends and as a joke one of them said ‘Matt, it would awesome if you took us curling one day.’ I didn’t know if you could even curl in Paris. I knew there were clubs in the Alps. I looked online, there was a club, it was already mid may, they told me next Wednesday is the last session of the year.

“I was pretty much hooked instantly.”

An avid cyclist, rower and soccer player before tearing his ACL, his passion for curling has grown in the days in Regina and he plans to “pick up curling more and more now.”

Friendly and outgoing, Chauveau spends most of his days inside Regina’s Brandt Centre, even when he’s not volunteering.

“I’ve been at the centre since beginning of the Brier. I got in Friday morning and I’ve been here maybe not sunrise to sunset but I’m not on shift now, but I got here at 9:30 and I don’t work until 6 at night. I’m just going to hang out, talk to some of those new friends, take in some games and maybe see if another volunteer needs some help.”

His role is to assist with the media needs, including handing interview requests to players as they leave the ice after games.

“So I’m standing right near the place they’re going to be stepping off the ice. That’s when you get the only two bad seconds of the day, when you’re asked to give out an interview request to a guy who just lost. But they’re very courteous. You see they’re into a bad mood, but they’re very polite.”

Yes, he’s been to the Original 16 Patch, which he found a touch loud when the bands are playing, and yes, he’s been watching a lot of curling, looking for tips that may help improve his game.

“Mostly standard stuff, be on the broom, have good weight, listen to the skip, that type of stuff,” he says of the tips. “It’s my first major tournament on site and being on site you get (to see) angles you don’t get on television. You model your delivery .. you see slides, I think I like that, it looks like something I could try myself.

He will also take with him plenty of warm memories, including his first day.

“Just the welcome I got here from everybody I met, just the view of getting here Friday morning, taking off my shoes because I was warned not to walk inside with the shoes I wore outside, so I brought a second pair of shoes, trying to find my way around, climbing up the stairs and seeing Brad Gushue throw his practice shots almost on the button. I thought ok, I’m really here now, this is happening.”

He leaves Canada on March 22, getting him home just in time for a bonspiel in Paris.

“I’m landing Friday, the spiel starts on Saturday morning. It’s at my club so I don’t want to miss it because it’s the club that introduced me to curling.”

On Monday morning at the Montana’s Brier, Team Jamie Koe and the Northwest Territories (3-1; Yellowknife) made history with a 7-5 win over Canada’s Team Brad Gushue (2-2; St. John’s, N.L.). It is the first time in the history of the Brier Team Northwest Territories has defeated the defending champions, Team Canada.

In another upset, Quebec’s Team Julien Tremblay (2-2; Etchemin/Kenogami/Chicoutimi/Victoria) defeated Alberta-Koe (1-3; Calgary), skipped by Kevin Koe, by a score of 11-6.

Prince Edward Island’s Team Tyler Smith (2-1; Crapaud) earned a 10-3 win against Nunavut’s Team Shane Latimer (0-3; Iqaluit) and Nova Scotia’s Team Matthew Manuel (1-3; Halifax) earned its first win of the week with a 6-2 win against Alberta-Sluchinski (2-1; Airdrie), skipped by Aaron Sluchinski.

The 2024 Montana’s Brier continues Monday with draws at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (all times Central Standard).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2024 Montana’s Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/

TSN and RDS will provide complete coverage of the 2024 Montana’s Brier. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule. Live coverage is also available for international streaming on TSN’s YouTube channel.