Manitoba 'a world leader in curling,' skips way toward international centre of excellence

Jennifer Jones and Connie Laliberte are two of the big names helping to bring an International Curling Centre of Excellence to Winnipeg.

Jones, an Olympic gold medallist and five-time Canadian women's champion, and Laliberte, a world champion and six-time provincial champion, are part of a 13-person committee that will oversee the development of the ICCE.

"Manitoba has a reputation as a world leader in curling. Every aspect of the game we excel at and I think it's time to really build on that … excellence with a centre to develop and support the sport at all levels," said Premier Brian Pallister.

He and Cathy Cox, the province's sport, culture and heritage minister, announced the ICCE development committee Friday morning.

Other members include top-level players, coaches, officials and technical experts, such as icemakers. It is chaired by 1981 Brier champ Mark Olson.

"We are bringing together some of curling's best and brightest to help us develop a training ground that will nurture great talent from at home and abroad, and inspire the next generations of curlers," Pallister said.

ICCE will be designed to promote curling at all levels, train and develop curlers and coaches to achieve top-class international performance, engage students from across Canada, and seek out and host international competitions, according to a release from the government.

Among its first tasks, the committee will review similar centres in other jurisdictions and look for ways to partner with the private sector. It is expected to provide recommendations to government by summer 2018.

"We're excited to get started," said Olson. "Having Winnipeg and Manitoba as the home to where the international curling community can come and raise their game to the level they desire makes perfect sense to me. We're going to do our best to see that it comes to fruition, right here in the modern-day home to curling."

ICCE committee members

Mark Olson (chair) — 1981 Brier champion, international level coach, past-president of the Manitoba Curling Tour.

Kelly Collett — past-president of the Portage Curling Club, 12-time participant in the Manitoba Men's Provincial Championship, 1989 MCA Bonspiel champion.

Resby Coutts — former president of CurlManitoba, served on numerous national and provincial boards and committees for curling, chair of the board of governors for Curling Canada.

Lois Fowler — three-time Manitoba senior women's champion, Canadian and world senior women's champion.

Cathy Gauthier — four-time national champion in women's and senior women's play holding world gold, silver and bronze medals, high-performance coach, and colour commentator for TSN.

Daniel Grant — two-time Canadian junior curling champion and university national champion.

Jennifer Jones — Olympic gold medallist and five-time Canadian women's champion.

Connie Laliberte — world champion and six-time provincial champion and director of high performance with CurlManitoba.

Rose Neufeld — past-president of CurlManitoba, provincial championship chief umpire and national championship game umpire.

Jill Officer — Olympic gold medallist and five-time Canadian women's champion.

Dennis Thiessen — Paralympic gold medallist and two-time Wheelchair Curling National champion.

Ron Westcott — Manitoba senior men's and masters men's champion, and Canadian master's champion and coach.

Hans Wuthrich — world-renowned international ice technician and consultant, and chief ice technician of the Olympic Games since 2010.

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