Canadian curling legend Russ Howard is coming to the Prince George Golf and Curling Club to share the tricks of the trade that took him to the top of the world three times
The two-time world champion (1987, 1993) and 2006 Olympic gold medalist is bringing his Academy of Curling clinic to the city for the first time, Oct. 20-22, to give local curlers a chance to learn from one of the all-time greats.
“The word’s getting around that he’s coming into town,” said PGGCC curling coordinator Tennille Mohr.
“We’ve never had anyone like that here for a teaching clinic. People are pretty excited. I have a couple curlers who did their clinic in the Lower Mainland earlier this year and they’ve paid to be in this one up here so it must be popular for them to do it twice.”
Howard, a native of Midland, Ont., made 15 Brier appearances representing New Brunswick during the height of his competitive career.
The Academy instructional lineup also includes five-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian champion Mary-Anne Arsenault, who won world titles in 2001 and 2004. Grant Odishaw, a two-time world medalist who played lead for his brother Terry’s Nova Scotia rink in nine Briers and also won the 1994 Canadian mixed title, will also be there to share his expertise.
It starts Friday with the seniors stick clinic from 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m, followed by a novice clinic from 5-9 p.m. Saturday’s intermediate clinic for individuals is an eight-hour event from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and the academy wraps up Sunday with another all-day intermediate session for teams.
There are still a few spots open in the four sessions.
A banquet that features Howard as the keynote speaker is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m.
Howard’s most recent official appearance in Prince George happened in March 2022 when he was served as one of the curling analysts for TSN broadcasts during the Women’s World Curling Championship at CN Centre.
Call 250-562-0357 (ext. 2) or email [email protected] to register.
League play at PGGCC starts on Friday, Oct. 13 with the Friday Night group on the ice to open the season.
Men’s league play starts Oct . 15. The seniors league has its first games of the season Oct. 18 and 19, curling Wednesdays and Thursdays during the day. The Commercial League also gets underway that week for Wednesday and Thursday night games.
The club is launching a new triples league for three-person teams at a date yet to be determined. Games are six ends and after every two ends the players rotate through the order so they each gets to throw lead, middle and skip rocks in every game.
“It’s a great league for beginners and players new to curling, I think it will be really popular once it catches on,” said Mohr. “Games are only an hour-and-a-half long.”
