CurlSask has announced who will represent the province at several upcoming national championships.聽
The 2021 Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts women鈥檚 curling provincials and the SaskTel Tankard men鈥檚 curling provincials were scheduled to happen back-to-back at Affinity Place in Estevan in late January and early February.
But late last year, CurlSask announced those events wouldn鈥檛 be happening in Estevan, and it was considering other options for provincials.
On Jan. 13, CurlSask鈥檚 proposal for a bubble to host provincials was rejected by the Government of Saskatchewan.
鈥淎ll options for any form of competition to declare our representatives have been exhausted,鈥� CurlSask said in a news release.
CurlSask has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 CurlSask Mixed Doubles Championships, Viterra Scotties and SaskTel Tankard, and CurlSask has been forced to select the men鈥檚, women鈥檚 and mixed doubles representatives.
It meant that CurlSask would determine who represents Saskatchewan at national events. But even that wasn鈥檛 easy for the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 representatives.
Roster changes occurred for both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 2020 champions. Team Matt Dunstone retained three members from last season and Team Robyn Silvernagle has two returning members.
The representatives for Saskatchewan at the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts nationals will be Team Anderson, with Sherry Anderson, Nancy Martin, Chaelynn Kitz and Breanne Knapp. Anderson鈥檚 rink lost to Silvernagle鈥檚 team in the provincial finals in 2020, but Anderson鈥檚 rink retained three members, while Silvernagle has just two.
Kitz hails from Oxbow and was the lead on Anderson鈥檚 rink last year. Kitz won the Marj Mitchell Sportsmanship Award at last year鈥檚 provincials.
Mitchell was from the Glen Ewen area, and in 1980, skipped the first Canadian entry to win gold at the women鈥檚 world curling championships.
The representatives for Saskatchewan at the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier will Matt Dunstone, Braeden Moskowy, Kirk Muyres and Dustin Kidby.
The tandem of Mike Armstrong and Ashley Quick will represent Saskatchewan at the 2021 Home Hardware Mixed Doubles Championship. They won last year鈥檚 provincial title, but didn鈥檛 get to represent Saskatchewan at nationals.
The objective assessment of teams is based on the performance of teams in a two-season window. CurlSask says this system objectively and fairly assessed the value of teams including those with roster changes.
This includes season-end points from last season (2019-20) and points earned from this partial season (2020-21) which were calculated using the existing Canadian Team Ranking System formula.
The points were calculated based on the current registered lineups of each team. Each team and/or individual contributed their own value based on past performance.
Nationals will take place with a bubble format in Calgary.聽
