With the 2025 BKT Tires World Men’s Curling Championships in Moose Jaw, Sask. this week, a few Canadian curling greats are behind the bench. But some have traded in their red and white to help with other nations.
In total, six Canadians are representing a country other than Canada at this year’s men’s worlds.
One of them is Glenn Howard.
“I was coaching Chelsea Carey’s team all year,” Howard said. “Unfortunate things happened with that team and they disbanded. Literally the next day, Benoit [Schwarz-Van Berkel] gave me a call and asked if I’d be interested in coaching [Switzerland].”
“It was a no brainer,” he added.
Before his retirement, Howard was one of the most decorated Canadian curlers - playing in 20 Brier Tankards, winning four of them.
All four times he’s represented Canada at a Men’s worlds, he won in 1987, 1993, 2007 and 2012.
“I feel I’m giving back to the sport,” Howard told CTV News. “The Swiss guys are amazing.”
Swiss skip Yannick Schwaller was in the crowd when Howard won gold in 2012.
“That’s when he became an idol to me,” he said. “And now to have him on the bench and coaching me is kind of surreal, but very cool.”
Schwaller called Howard’s expertise and experience invaluable.
“He’s one of the best skips ever,” he said. “He’s been through everything with such a long career. At any point of the tournament, he has had the same emotions.”
“That’s a very strong contributor for us,” Schwaller added.
Another Canadian great in different colours this week is Howard’s former teammate Craig Savill, who’s coaching Team Czechia. He’s been with Team Klima for the last four seasons.
“I wish I was on the ice for these big ones wearing the maple leaf,” he joked. “But I’m super happy to support a country like the Czech Republic and hopefully get them a little bit better.”
Czech skip Lukas Klima also believes having the experience of a coach like Savill guiding them is important.
“He’s a huge part of our team,” Klima said. “The knowledge and know how is just amazing and he gives us a lot of tapes and information.”
Curling is still a relatively niche sport in the Czech Republic, according to Savill.
“There’s not a lot of curlers,” he said “There’s only a few curling clubs. Only a few people actually playing competitive in on the tour.”
But still, Klima and his Czech team have been at the last three worlds, hoping to earn a spot at the 2028 Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy.
“That’s our goal,” the Czech skip said. “That means winning as many games as possible and let’s see if it’s enough or not.”
“If you have a team that is successful at the world stage, it inspires others,” Savill added. “And that’s what we’re hoping to do with Team Klima is inspire some other junior curlers to get going in the sport.”
Savill co-coaches Czechia with fellow Canadian Brad Askew. While Ryan Sherrard with Germany, Italian coach Ryan Fry and Japan’s Bob Ursel are also Canadian.
“We’d rather have them stick at home so we can become dominant again,” Curling Canada national coach Jeff Stoughton said. “[Other countries] are bringing in some of our Canadian coaches, hats off to them for doing that.”
“Because they’re looking for the best and a little bit of an edge,” he added.
While wearing different colours, Howard and Savill say being in Canada for this year’s tournament is special.
“The fans are unbelievable,” Howard said. “They’re not going to be cheering for Switzerland, which is totally natural.”
“We keep forgetting as Canadians, it’s special for other countries to come and play in front of these crowds,” Savill said. “[They’re] so knowledgeable. Everyone is clapping for everybody. They love it.”
