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Chestermere ready to host BOOST National curling event

Chestermere is ready to rock – on the pebbled ice, that is.
BOOSTnational
Chestermere is hosting the BOOST National curling event from Nov. 2 to 7.

Chestermere is ready to rock – on the pebbled ice, that is.

Some of the world’s top curlers will be in the lakeside city from Nov. 2 to 7, battling it out at the BOOST National, which is one of the biggest events of the year in the sport.

After last year’s bonspiel was cancelled due to the pandemic, competitors involved will be looking to make up for lost time and get ready for Olympic qualifying events.

“The only way you get into this, is if you are top 16 in the world,” said curling hall of famer Kevin Martin. “It’s the best against the best worldwide.”

Martin, who has 15 Grand Slam victories, four world championship appearances, and an Olympic gold medal on his curling resume, said there aren’t many other events like the BOOST National.

“It is absolutely as good as it gets,” he said. “Every single game is against one of the best in the world, so consistency of play is huge. If you ever have an off day, you’re heading home.”

Sixteen men’s teams and 16 women’s teams will be competing at the Chestermere Recreation Centre, and new to this year’s BOOST National will be a triple-knockout preliminary round.

In the new set-up, teams must win three games before they lose three to determine the eight teams that advance to the quarterfinals in both divisions.

With the event not happening last year due to COVID-19, the defending men’s champion is still Team Brad Jacobs, of Ontario. On the women’s side, the defending champion is Team Anna Hasselborg, a rink out of Switzerland.

In terms of preparation, Martin said this year has been a little different than previous curling seasons. He said generally, in an non-Olympic year, players plan to peak at various Grand Slam events through the calendar year, as well as the national curling championships. This year, not only are players competing at the BOOST National in Chestermere, but two weeks later, players will be battling it out at Olympic trials to try and land a spot to represent their country in Beijing, China at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“Basically, you are trying to peak every two weeks for almost two months, [and] that is not easy,” he said. “The teams that are going to succeed are the ones that prepare themselves properly.”

Looking at BOOST National, Martin said paying attention to who plays well during the event will play into who may have strong showings at the Olympic trials, which will take place in Saskatoon from Nov. 20 to 28.

“The team that comes out of Chestermere as champions will have the upper hand starting in Saskatoon,” he said.

With Chestermere being able to host an event like BOOST National, Martin said it will cause a lot of curling talk in the community, which leads to growth in membership at local curling clubs.

The added awareness helps to grow the sport at the local level – something Martin is very familiar with.

“It brings young people to the rinks.” He said. “You are going to see more people getting involved, more excitement around the clubs, because of the Grand Slam coming to town and all of these great curlers coming to town.”

From Martin’s perspective, he said looking at the last event that took place a few weeks ago, he’ll be looking at Team Brad Jacobs and Team Bruce Mouat on the men’s side, and Team Jennifer Jones and Team Tracy Fleury on the women's side as the rinks to beat.

“You have to look at the people who were really hot in the last event,” he explained.

With a recent break for curlers, Martin said there will have been a lot of work done by teams trying to get ready for the next Olympic trials, which makes him think the Canadian teams competing at BOOST National will show well, due to what is at stake.

“They are putting so much work in right now,” he said. “The teams from around the world are working hard, but they don’t have the same drive right now because their big event, other than the Grand Slams, is the Olympic Games themselves. It’s a bit of a different driving force for the Canadian teams that are in the trials.”

For those interested in seeing the event live, tickets can be purchased by visiting thegrandslamofcurling.com. it will also be available to watch on Sportsnet.

Jordan Stricker, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @jaystrickz

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