Tickets and full event passes for the Men's and Women's Curling Competitions at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver are being made available to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) from the Vancouver Organising Committee (VANOC).
 
For Non-Canadian spectators, those wishing to purchase tickets for curling (or any other sport) will have to do so from a ticket agency in their own country who has been contracted through the NOC concerned. These will be different for each country, and information on how to place orders should be sought from respective NOCs. For example, the agency for US citizens has been announced as Jet Set Sports.

Sales commence on 8 October 2008, and interested parties should contact their respective NOC agency to register interest in purchasing.
 
For Canadian residents, the ticket request period runs from October 3 to November 7, 2008 and is available directly through the organizing committee website at: www.vancouver2010.com

PLEASE NOTE this is a request period and there is NO RUSH to submit requests on the first day. A request submitted on October 3 will be considered the same as a request submitted on November 7.

Once notified of each person's ticket allocation in late November/early December, Canadian residents will be able to confidently finalize the rest of their plans, which may include booking flights and accommodation.

August 13, 2008

PERTH, Scotland – The World Curling Federation (WCF) has announced the first-ever challenge from a South American member association, Brazil, issued against the United States of America for a berth in the upcoming 2009 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship.

Twelve teams compete at both the men’s and women’s world curling championships each year. Two teams represent the Americas Zone, encompassing both North and South America. Since the inception of the world championships, the only two WCF member associations to represent the Americas have been Canada and the United States.

Canada, winner of both the 2007 and 2008 world men’s titles, has qualified for the 2009 Ford Worlds in Moncton, Canada in April. Brazil, a WCF member since 1998, will challenge the U.S. for the second Americas berth in Moncton. The United States will host the challenge series in January 2009 at a location to be determined.

“The Brazilian challenge marks another milestone in the development of world curling,” said Les Harrison, WCF President.

“We will follow Brazil’s on-ice debut with interest, and we wish both competing member associations and their athletes the best in their qualification efforts.”

“We believe we are ready,” said Eric Maleson, president of the Brazilian Ice Sports Federation.

“We are confident that this will take curling in Brazil and in the Pan-American continent to a new level.”

All five Brazilian nationals are currently studying at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada. They train at the Lennoxville Curling Club.

This is the first challenge involving the United States Curling Association (USCA) since an Italian junior team challenged for the final place at the 1998 World Juniors. USCA selected a host venue specifically located within an Italian-American community, and arranged hosted accommodation for the athletes.

The United States won the challenge, and earned their place in the 1998 Juniors.

“We welcome the first-ever challenge from a South American team and look forward to hosting Brazil,” said Rick Patzke, USCA Chief Operating Officer.

“The possibility of a challenge existed throughout the 1990s when Mexico was a WCF member, but it never came to pass. This is not an unexpected development, and we are pleased with the continued growth of the sport.”

The challenge will comprise a best-of-five series of matches, held over a three-day competition in January.

U.S. men have won four world curling championships, the first coming in 1965. They also scored Olympic bronze at Turin in 2006, led by skip Pete Fenson of Bemidji, Minnesota.

CAMROSE, Canada – The roster for Team North America at the 2008 Continental Cup of Curling is now confirmed.

Now in its sixth edition, the Continental Cup, featuring Team World versus Team North America, will be staged December 18-21 at the 2,300-seat EnCana Arena at the Edgeworth Centre in Camrose, Alberta, Canada.

Following last month's announcement of the Team World lineup, Team North America has amassed a strong squad intent on retaining its 2007 championship. The skips representing Team North America are reigning 2008 world champions Kevin Martin and Jennifer Jones of Canada, reigning 2008 United States champions Craig Brown and Debbie McCormick, and qualifiers Kevin Koe and Stefanie Lawton of Canada.

North America holds a 3-2 edge over the "World", after winning last year's Continental Cup in Medicine Hat, Alberta. The unique event, patterned somewhat after golf's Ryder Cup, will offer a purse of $88,400, with each member of the winning team receiving $2,000, while each losing team member receiving $1,400.

Jones, a two-time Canadian champion, was a member of the winning North America side at the 2007 Cup, while Martin, a three-time Canadian champion and 2002 Olympic silver medallist, competed in the inaugural Continental Cup in Regina in 2002, when North America scored a dramatic, last rock victory over the World in the final men's skins game between Martin and Sweden's Peja Lindholm.

McCormick, the 2003 world champion, will be making her fourth Cup appearance for North America, after competing in 2003, 2006 and 2007, while Brown will be competing in his first Cup.

Russ Howard, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion, will be the
captain for Team North America while Jim Waite will be the coach.

As released earlier, Team World is headlined by reigning Le Gruyère European champions Anette Norberg of Sweden and David Murdoch of Scotland.

In addition to her 2006 Olympic gold medal, Norberg won back-to-back world titles in 2005 and 2006. Her squad also competed in three previous Cups, winning in 2003 in Thunder Bay, Ontario and 2006 in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

Murdoch, who won the 2006 world men's championship and was runner-up in both 2005 and 2008, will also be making his fourth Cup appearance, winning in 2006.

Coming on the heels of remarkable international success in 2008, two teams from China will join Team World. Bingyu Wang earned a silver medal at the Ford world women's while Fengchun Wang, finished fourth at the 2008 world men's while making his country's debut in the championship.

The other World skips are Switzerland's 2002 and 2006 Olympic silver medallist and 2008 world bronze medallist Mirjam Ott, who was also a member of Team Europe when winning the 2006 Continental Cup, and Norway's Thomas
Ulsrud, bronze medallist at the 2006 and 2008 world men's and runner-up to Murdoch at the 2007 European championship.

The coach will be Sweden's three-time world champion Peja Lindholm, while 2002 Olympic gold medallist Pål Trulsen of Norway will be the World captain. Lindholm played in the first three Cups, winning in 2003, while Trulsen also participated in three Cups, winning in 2003 and 2006.

The Continental Cup is a four-day competition involving Team games (72 points), Mixed Doubles (36 points), Singles (32 points) and Skins (Men's, Women's and Mixed, worth a total of 260 points). The first side to score 201 points is declared the winner.

In 2002, Team North America edged Team World at the inaugural Continental Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan, 207-193, but Europe evened the score in 2003, winning 208-179 in Thunder Bay. In 2004, North America recaptured the title with a 228-172 tally in Medicine Hat, before a record four-day crowd of 42,317.

In 2006 in Chilliwack, Europe emerged victorious, 229-171 as all curling medallists from the 2006 Olympic Winter Games participated. Last year in Medicine Hat, North America wound up with a 290-110 advantage, clinching the competition prior to the women's and men's final Skins games were played on Sunday.

Canada's The Sports Network (TSN) will provide extensive national coverage (28 hours) of the competition.

The world's best curling athletes have competed in the Continental Cup. In addition to this year's lineup, previous participants include teams skipped by Canada's Brad Gushue, Randy Ferbey, Glenn Howard, Kelly Scott, Kelley Law
and Colleen Jones, Norway's Dordi Nordby, Sweden's Elisabet Gustafson, Scotland's Rhona Martin, Jackie Lockhart and Hammy McMillan, Germany's Andrea Schöpp and Andy Kapp and Finland's Markku Uusipaavalniemi.

The Continental Cup is a joint venture of the Canadian Curling Association, the United States Curling Association and the World Curling Federation. 

ZUG, Switzerland, 24 June 2008 – Infront Sports & Media has signed a three-year partnership agreement with the World Curling Federation (WCF). With this agreement, the Swiss-based sports marketing group underlines its leading position in the marketing of winter sports at the international level through official partnerships with six of the seven Olympic Winter Sports.

The contract will run from 2008-2011 with Infront having the option to renew and further extend the partnership. Infront's title will be "Official Marketing Partner of the World Curling Federation".

Championship events included in the contract are the annual Men's and Women's World Curling Championships and the annual European Curling Championship. Infront's role covers the exploitation of all media and marketing rights on a worldwide basis, except for territories where existing agreements are in place which are being reviewed with the partners concerned. In Canada, TSN remains the official WCF broadcast partner in an agreement that is in place until 2014.

The production of the broadcast and new media signal for worldwide distribution will continue to be handled by the WCF. It is already of high quality and the production also includes special highlights programming.

Attractive packages for sponsors

Infront is tasked with the development of a marketing hierarchy and attractive packages for sponsors, utilising exposure opportunities such as in-ice advertising; stadium and venue advertising and combining these with official sponsorship status and designations, use of marks, hospitality and promotional opportunities.

WCF President Les Harrison said: "The World Curling Federation is extremely pleased to have reached a partnership agreement allowing Infront to assist us in our efforts for the promotion and development of the sport of curling around the world. We are looking forward to a long term relationship beneficial to both of our organizations that will solidify the future growth and success of our sport.

"We also look forward to Ford of Canada's partnership over the next two years, starting with the 50th anniversary Ford World Men's Curling Championship in Moncton."

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront said: "We are really proud to team up with the World Curling Federation. The sport is highly competitive and I am convinced that our marketing partnership will open a new era of commercial success. This agreement is also another key step in strengthening Infront's position as leading specialist in the marketing of international winter sports. Specialisation is potentially valuable to all
our clients in this area. We are now able to create even more opportunities and to
exploit synergies to full effect."

Bruno Marty, Executive Director Winter Sports, who will be responsible for theoperational aspects of the new relationship, added: "We are looking forward to working with the World Curling Federation to give curling a strong base for future expansion. The sport has a lot to offer to both commercial and broadcast partners and it is our aim to unlock its full potential."

Tradition and Sportsmanship

The game of curling is more than 500 years old. The earliest written records of curling were found in Scotland. Today curling is played throughout the world. Forty-four Member Associations belong to the WCF and the popularity of the sport is increasing. The sport is most firmly established in Canada and is growing fast in Europe and Asia.

An integral element of curling is sportsmanship, highlighted in the WCF rule book as "The Spirit of Curling". Even at the highest level, a curler is expected to "call his or her own fouls" such as drawing the opposition's attention to a touched stone.

Increasing popularity

The competition between two teams of four, played with stones on ice, was featured at the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France in 1924 when the Outdoor Men's Curling Competition was won by Great Britain. After a gap of 74 years, it returned as an Olympic Winter Sport as an indoor competition at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games, with both men's and women's tournaments. Becoming an official Olympic sport, improvements in ice making and changes in the rules to make the game more attractive to spectators, and to promote complex strategy, have increased the popularity of the sport and its television audiences. This boosts the TV figures which rise continuously each year.

Curling as a TV sport

Interest in curling is growing, as the sport becomes more international. As well as the traditional winter sports countries, Asian teams have already qualified for the World Curling Championships and they will continue to do so and increase performance at future events. Among the top countries are Canada, Norway, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, and competitive countries from Asia including Japan, China and Korea.

Curling is an attractive television sport. The competition is direct and simple, making comparison easy for the spectator, who can soon pick up the essentials of the sport. Players' voices can be heard by the viewers, making them feel very much part of the game, as the tension is prolonged and the excitement builds. The attributes needed for competitive curling include mental strength, physical endurance, precision and tactical ability.

A schedule of top events

There is an annual schedule of international events at the World Curling Championship and
European Curling Championship level, for both men and women.

• 2009 Ford World Men's Curling Championship - 4-12 April, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
• 2009 World Women's Curling Championship - 21-29 March, Gangneung, Korea
• 2010 World Men's Curling Championship - 3-11 April, Cortina, Italy
• 2010 Ford World Women's Curling Championship - 20-28 March, Canada (host city TBD)

• European Curling Championships (Men's and Women's combined)

2008 - 6-13 December, Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
2009 - 5-12 December, Aberdeen, Scotland
2010 - 4-11 December, Champery, Switzerland

The annual World Curling Championships involve the top 12 curling countries in the world. Each Championship takes nine days and is played to a round robin format to determine the qualification for the final rounds. While the Women's World Curling Championship is played in March each year the men's event takes place in April.

The European Curling Championships take place each December and are split into A and B groups where group A contains the top ten national teams. The final top eight countries of group A for men and women qualify for the next World Curling Championships.

Additional WCF Championships include the World Junior Curling Championships, the World Senior Curling Championships, the World Wheelchair Curling Championship (leading to the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games) and the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship.

About Infront Sports & Media

Infront Sports & Media, based in Zug, Switzerland, is an experienced international full service sports marketing company with a capacity for innovation that is helping to transform the industry.

These innovations have enhanced every area of sports marketing, including distribution of rights, host broadcast, programme production, event operations, brand development, sponsorship and even online entertainment.

The group is the strongest, most experienced marketing agency in the winter sports arena, now representing six of seven Olympic winter sport federations at the international level. Infront has 400 employees across 24 offices in 11 countries.

About WCF

The World Curling Federation is the international sports federation governing the Olympic winter sport of curling and the Paralympic winter sport of wheelchair curling with headquarters in Perth, Scotland. WCF represents 44 Member Associations and is generally  acknowledged to direct one of the fastest-growing international winter sports.

The World Curling Federation (WCF) is mourning the death of 95-year-old George Clifton Thompson, known as Clif, who passed away June 3, 2008 in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.

Thompson served as World Curling Federation president from 1982 to 1985, when the organization was known as the International Curling Federation. He earlier served as Canadian Curling Association president in 1979, and was eventually inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame.

Born in Brandon, Manitoba in 1913, Thompson worked at the Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company in Kapuskasing, Ontario until 1978.

Thompson was on the forefront of curling’s attempt to rejoin the Olympic family when me met IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, in December 1984 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Curling eventually became a demonstration sport at the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Winter Games and returned to Olympic medal status with the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan.

In 1980 Thompson initiated a senior curling league in Stroud, Ontario. The league commenced with 14 curlers and has grown to nearly 100 members. Thompson continued to play an active role in the league,  promoting all the aspects of curling – skills, rules, etiquette and camaraderie – and hosted clinics.

The Stroud Curling Club honoured Thompson by renaming the Clif Thompson Senior Curling League and providing members with a special crest.

“Clif came to the Brier (Canadian men’s championship) in Hamilton in 2007,” said Warren Hansen of the Canadian Curling Association.

“I hadn’t seen him in years. He was sharp, and we had a long conversation. He was very interested in recent developments in the sport.”

Clif Thompson was predeceased by his wife Helen in August of 2006. He is survived by his children Nancy, Ross and Rick, their spouses, and his grandchildren.