CurlManitoba, CURLSASK, Nova Scotia Curling finish first in 2023-24 Cup races

A memorable 2023-24 curling season resulted in three of Curling Canada’s Member Associations coming out on top of the annual season-long Cup chases, it was confirmed today.

For the first time since the competition began in 2011, CurlManitoba captured the Member Associations Cup, which goes to the provincial/territorial association that has the best overall performance in 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-21 Men’s and Women’s Championships; the Canadian Under-18 Championships; the Everest Canadian Senior Men’s and Women’s Championships; the Everest 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.

Points are awarded based on the finish of the teams that won their respective provincial/territorial championships and are wearing their provincial/territorial uniforms at national competitions (meaning Team Canada and Pre-Qualified teams don’t earn points as residency rules don’t apply to them).

CurlManitoba’s Kadriana Lott and Colton Lott won the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship, while Team Shaela Hayward won female gold at the Canadian Under-18 Championships this past season, while Team Manitoba entries were second among Member Association champions at both the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Team Kaitlyn Lawes) and the Montana’s Brier (Team Reid Carruthers)

CURLSASK, meanwhile, won the Governors’ Cup, which goes to the Member Association that has the best year-to-year improvement in back-to-back full seasons. It’s the first time the Governors’ Cup has been awarded since 2019 due to a series of seasons that were affected by the pandemic. CURLSASK also won the award in 2019.

During the 2023-24 campaign, CURLSASK finished third in the overall MA Cup standings, led by victories from Team Gil Dash at the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship and Team Shaun Meachem at the Canadian Mixed Championship, while Team Mike McEwen’s silver-medal finish skipping Saskatchewan at the Montana’s Brier was the top finish for a provincial/territorial champion.

The Nova Scotia Curling Association, meanwhile, won the For The Love of Curling Cup, which goes to the Member Association that has the best results at Curling Canada’s four NextGen events — the New Holland Canadian Under 21 Men’s and Women’s Championships and the Canadian Under 18 Championships.

All four Nova Scotia champion teams finished on the podium at the NextGen national events — Team Allyson MacNutt and Team Calan MacIsaac won gold and silver respectively at the New Holland Canadian Under-21 Championships, while Team Rebecca Regan and Team Zachary Atherton were the female and male bronze-medallists at the Canadian Under-18 Championships.

Nova Scotia Curling also won the inaugural For The Love of Curling Cup in 2018.