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Canada's Olympic and Paralympic curling medalists are in Port Elgin for The Battle, a sold-out fundraiser featuring mixed doubles, skins and a head-to-head match, plus a curling camp with 25 Olympic medals worth of coaching.
Canada's Olympic and Paralympic curling medalists have gathered in Port Elgin for a sold-out fundraiser called The Battle, an event combining mixed doubles, skins games and a head-to-head matchup over three days.
The event marks the first competition of the season for Brad Jacobs and his gold medal winning men's squad. Team Canada's Olympic medal winning squads, skipped by Brad Jacobs and Rachel Homan, headline the weekend. Canada's gold medal winning Paralympic Wheelchair Curling squad, skipped by Mark Ideson, is also featured. Organizers say having the three medal winning teams from Milano Cortina together is a rare combination.
New Curling Formats Tested
Mixed doubles games run Friday night, skins games take place Saturday, and a head to head match closes the event Sunday. Jacobs said the format is a first for his team. He said it is nice to have this as their first event, come out, raise some money for charity, play against the girls and have some fun. Tracy Fleury, vice-skip for Team Canada's women's curling squad, said the team has not quite played this format before.
She said playing doubles, skins and regular curling will bring good variety. Fleury added that the athletes are competitive and want to make a lot of shots for spectators. Mark Ideson, skip of Canada's Paralympic Wheelchair Curling squad, called the combination really exciting. He said there are lots of eyes on curling right now on the heels of the Olympics and Paralympics, and the more people playing the game, the better.
World Ranked Coaches Instruct
Eighty curling enthusiasts are taking part in a curling camp featuring some of the best past and present curlers Canada has to offer. Dave Middleton, marketing director for The Battle, said Rachel is still ranked number one in the world, Brad is ranked number three, and the Paralympic team is ranked number one. Middleton said the camp instructors collectively hold 25 Olympic medals.
He said there is no other camp where people can learn from that kind of quality set of coaches. Sara Walsh traveled from San Francisco to take part. She said the trip was a bit of a trek, further from Toronto than she expected when she signed up. Walsh said she saw the event online and it sounded like fun.
Fundraiser Supports Local Clubs
She called it a chance to get out of her comfort zone and a once in a lifetime opportunity to rub shoulders with the best of the best. The Battle is entirely sold out, and it will be streamed online. The event is a fundraiser for local curling clubs working to keep up with the rising costs of operating small town curling.
On top of the funds raised, it is estimated more than 1 million dollars will be spent in spin off spending from the event. Jacobs said volunteers have put a lot of time and effort into the event and have been planning for at least a year and a half. He said the goal is to put on a great show for everyone, for the fans, have some fun and try their best to make some shots.
Fleury said the athletes know spectators want to see good shots, so they are out practicing and hoping to put on a good show. Ideson said the event comes at a time when curling has lots of attention following the Olympics and Paralympics. The Battle brings together Canada's Olympic medal winning men's and women's curling squads along with the gold medal winning Paralympic Wheelchair Curling squad. Games begin Friday night and continue through Sunday in Port Elgin.
CTVToronto 
CTVNews:Canada’s Olympic Curling squads kick off their season with unique “battle of the sexes” tournament in Port ElginThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Curling Port Elgin Team Canada Olympic Medalists Charity The Battle Curling Brad Jacobs Rachel Homan Paralympic Wheelchair Curling
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