One RI World Curling Championship, Four Participating Countries, 22 Club Curling Teams and 96 Rotarian Curlers – a recipe for fellowship, fun and a wee bit of “The Roaring Game”. Curling is just one of ~149, Rotary International Fellowships. Following a qualifying process (a series of Can-Am curling bonspiels, our own Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise and Simcoe Curling Club team qualified for, and attended, the 2026 World Curling Championships hosted by the Rotary Clubs of Ayr & Stranraer in Scotland.
Our team of Jim Simpson (Skip), Andy Kooistra (Vice), Keith Jones (Second) & Andrew Watt (Lead) were ready to go! The 12-day event opened on April Fool’s Day, spanned 10 days and was held in the most unique of venues, a castle-type hotel (the North-West Castle built in 1820 by a Scot who had explored routes through Canada’s North-West passage) with an attached 4-sheet, alps-decorated curling rink, all put in place by the Hammy McMillan family of deep Scottish curling fame. Perfect!
Go to the “Read More...” tab for more content, links and photos.
Organized into a ‘championship’ round of 10 teams and a ‘friendly’ round of 12 teams, our RCNS group was amongst the 10 teams in the championship round. Whilst we fell short of the final ‘championship’ play-offs (won by a team representing the Rotary Club of Grande Prairie Sunrise), we Norfolk Sunrisers had a terrific time and a great finish. Along the way we competed in 10 games but we also enjoyed several local Scottish tourist sites, experienced wonderful Scottish food, drink and hospitality, and benefitted from some pretty memorable Rotary International fellowship. A few more pictures may be found at the Club's collection of Photo Albums.
It was great event – together, we became better Rotarians, more experienced curlers and closer friends. What could be better in the “hurry-hard” universe. Perfect!
