Brad Jacobs and his gold medal winning Men’s Curling squad are hitting the pebbled ice, for the first time this season, and they’re doing it in Port Elgin. “First time we’ve done anything like this. It’s nice to have this as our first event, just come out and raise some money for charity, play against the girls, have some fun,” said Canada’s Olympic Curling champion Jacobs. Over the next three days, Team Canada’s Olympic medal winning squads, skipped by Brad Jacobs and Rachel Homan will be in Port Elgin for a marquee “battle of the sexes”. The event will feature mixed doubles games Friday night, skins games on Saturday, and a head to head match on Sunday. “We haven’t quite played this format before. But, I think it’s going to be fun. Playing some doubles, playing some skins, and then some regular curling. I think there will be some good variety,” said Tracy Fleury, Vice-Skip for Team Canada’s Women’s Curling squad. Canada’s gold medal winning Paralympic Wheelchair Curling squad is also being featured at the event, dubbed “The Battle”. “It’s actually a really exciting combination. For curling, I think to have the three medal winning teams from Milano Cortina here altogether, it’s really exciting,” said Mark Ideson, Skip of Canada’s Paralympic Wheelchair Curling squad. If that weren’t enough, 80 curling enthusiasts will take part in a curling camp, featuring some of the best past and present curlers, Canada has to offer. “I believe Rachel is still ranked number one in the world. Brad’s ranked number three. The Paralympic team, I believe, is ranked number one,” said “The Battle” Marketing Director, Dave Middleton. “Out of the all of the people who are attending this event from a teacher’s instructor standpoint, 25 Olympic medals. There is no other camp where you’re ever going to get a chance to learn from that kind of quality set of coaches.” That’s the reason Sara Walsh came all the way from San Francisco to take part. “It was a bit of a trek to come up here, a little bit further from Toronto than I actually thought when I signed up. But I saw it online, it sounded like fun. A chance to get out of my comfort zone a little bit. I mean, a once in a lifetime opportunity to rub shoulders with the best of the best,” said Walsh. “The Battle” is entirely sold out. The event is a fundraiser for local curling clubs to keep up the rising costs of operating small town curling. On top of the funds raised, it’s estimated more than $1 million will be spent in spin off spending from the event. “The volunteers have put a lot of time and effort into this event. They have been planning now for at least a year and a half. So, really we just want to put on a great show for everyone. For the fans. Have some fun. Try our best to make some shots,” said Jacobs. “We’re all competitive athletes. We want to go out there and make a lot of shots. And, we know there’s going to be spectators here who want to see good shots. So yeah, we’re out here practicing, hoping to put on a good show,” said Fleury. “There’s lots of eyes on curling right now on the heels of the Olympics and Paralympics and you know, the more people we can get playing the game, the better,” said Ideson. “The Battle” will be streamed online.
