× Expand Francis Bouffard 2021 Continental Cup Curling Oakville Ontario

Canada’s best will be battling Europe’s best in Oakville, Ont., next January, it was announced on March 10, 2020 by Curling Canada.

The 2021 Continental Cup will be staged Jan. 7-10 at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, and will see Team Canada play Team Europe in a four-day team competition in a variety of curling formats.

“This will be the first time the Town of Oakville has hosted a Curling Canada championship, and they put in a simply superb bid,” said John Shea, Chair of Curling Canada’s Board of Governors. “That, combined with the first-class facilities at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, and a dedicated curling community in Oakville, makes me very confident that the 2021 Continental Cup will be a huge success.”

Three-time world champion and CurlON board vice-chair Ian Tetley at the announcement. Photo courtesy of Curling Canada.

Three-time world champion and CurlON board vice-chair Ian Tetley at the announcement. Photo courtesy of Curling Canada.

The Continental Cup will feature six Canadian (three men’s, three women’s) teams matched up against six European teams in traditional four-player team competition, skins and mixed doubles formats.

As the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts (women) and Tim Hortons Brier (men) champions respectively, Team Kerri Einarson and Team Brad Gushue have qualified to be part of Team Canada in Oakville. The rest of the teams, captains and coaches for both Team Canada and Team Europe will be announced later this year.

“Oakville Town Council went to great lengths to make Sixteen Mile Sport Complex the facility that can host these kinds of tournaments and we are pleased to see that this investment by Council has paid off,” said Oakville Mayor Rob Burton. “We look forward to welcoming athletes and visitors alike to Oakville next year for the 2021 Continental Cup.”

Opened in 2010, the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex features four ice pads, including the Olympic-sized 1,800-capacity arena in which the 2021 Continental Cup will be staged. The arena also is home to the Oakville Blades Junior A Hockey Club, the 2018-19 Ontario Junior Hockey League champions.

“We couldn’t be happier to welcome back the Continental Cup to Ontario, and I’m sure Oakville will knock it out of the park,” said Steve Chenier, Executive-Director of CurlON. “World-class curling is always a treat to watch in person, and I know Oakville has a deep and knowledgeable base of curling fans and volunteers who will put on a terrific show.”

It will be the 17th edition of the Continental Cup, and Team Europe will be looking to extend its win streak to three. The Europeans triumphed at the 2020 Continental Cup in January in London, Ont., and also won in 2019 at Las Vegas after having losing the previous six editions.

“We’ve been waiting a long time to bring a major curling championship to Oakville, and we were thrilled to get the news from Curling Canada that our bid had been accepted,” said Chris Wai, General Manager of the Oakville Curling Club. “Welcoming the world’s best curling teams to our hometown will be an absolute privilege, and we can’t wait to get to work to make this event memorable for everyone.”

TSN/RDS2 , the official broadcast partner of Curling Canada’s Season of Champions, will televise all of the action from Oakville.

Press Release provided by Curling Canada.