Article content continued

Hardline’s top two men’s teams, both from Winnipeg and skipped by Mike McEwen and Reid Carruthers, also signed the agreement. McEwen declined an interview request with the Herald, saying he wouldn’t be available until after his team had released a statement on the issue.

World Curling Players Association president Jon Mead, who is also part of McEwen’s team this year as a fifth and unofficial coach/manager, said the players agreement was designed to be a quick, temporary solution until the governing bodies can get new rules in place.

“There’s a lot of layers to that in terms of consultations and processes and testing and certification and they just can’t do that on a dime,” he said.

“So, there has to be some sort of player/manufacturer moratorium that everyone will agree to in the short term to get us through events with a modicum of professionalism, otherwise we’re all worried that it could go in a direction that nobody wants very quickly.”

Carey’s team will be in the field at the Red Deer Curling Classic but the World Curling Federation has asked that anyone using so-called direction-fabric brushes to turn their brush heads inside out for the event.

“Now I’m basically told that some of the men’s teams have tested the icePad inverted and that’s its good enough so use it,” Nixon said.

“I don’t actually have the kind of resources to pull out four different brooms and test them and video tape them to feel 100 per cent comfortable that I’m on a even playing field with someone who is using whatever they’re using from a different broom manufacturer.”