NWT curlers are coming home from the sport’s Rotary World Championship in Scotland after securing silver in the event’s friendship bracket.
Norma Jarvis, Dan Drake, Marta Moir and Ian Moir form a curling team of Rotarians in the territory. Through districts covering Alberta and the NWT, they earned the right to travel to Stranraer for this month’s event, which is divided into championship and friendship competitions.
Stranraer is a Scottish coastal town about half the size of Yellowknife that looks out toward Northern Ireland. The championship was hosted by the town’s North West Castle, a 19th-century hotel whose owners built a curling club into the property.
“The history, the people, unbelievable,” said Marta Moir on her return. “They just went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and at home. Stranraer put on such an amazing event.”
The NWT team came through the 12-team friendship bracket to reach the final before a narrow defeat against a Swan City/Stony Plain rink they know well, skipped by Dan Boorse.
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Moir described that as an outcome “well beyond our expectations.”
Beyond the curling, the team spent time sitting in on Rotary meetings that spotlighted work being done locally and worldwide. Teams from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States were in attendance.
“Just hearing about the good work Rotarians around the world are doing – in particular, we heard a lot about the Scottish groups that were hosting us – was very inspiring,” said Moir.
The International Curling Fellowship of Rotarians says it holds a tournament every two years.
The fellowship has been in existence since at least the 1970s, according to its website.
