Okanagan curling club to welcome the world

Okanagan curling club to welcome the world

Published 3:43 pm Thursday, September 17, 2026

By Roger Knox/Vernon Morning Star

Part of the world curling spotlight will shine on Vernon.

The Vernon Curling Club has been named the hosts for the 2027 and 2029 World Mixed Fours Curling Championships.

Matches will be played at the club, with dates to be finalized.

“This is going to bring all kinds of people here to Vernon,” said curling club manager Kevin Geistlinger. “We’re hoping the events will help expose curling, especially to those in our city who have never played the sport before.”

There are 68 eligible countries that could send teams to Vernon, including, of course, Canada.

Hometown girl Karri Willms is an education services officer for the World Curling Federation and, on behalf of her employers, reached out to her former junior curling teammate to see about bringing the tournament to the North Okanagan.

“I’ve known Karri for years and she came to us and asked us to host the tournaments,” said Geistlinger.

Vernon played host to the 2008 World Women’s Curling Championships, but that event was held at Kal Tire Place.

The local club has hosted multiple provincial and Canadian championship tournaments over the years.

Volunteers for the World Mixed Championships will be required, and the Vernon Curling Club will soon post a link on its website (https://vernoncurling.ca/) where people can get more information and sign up.

• Coming up at the club is the Prestige Hotels and Resorts Curling Classic Oct. 2 to 5.

The event will feature 24 teams on both the men’s and women’s draws.

Defending champions Mahra Harris and Jason Montgomery, both from Victoria, are in the tournament.

The Classic is the fourth and final Satellite Event for teams to try and earn a spot into the Grand Slam of Curling’s CO-OP Invitational Oct. 13 to 18 in Victoria.

Each Satellite event champion will receive an automatic berth into one of the first four Grand Slam of Curling events of the season. If a Satellite winner has already secured entry through another qualification path, the automatic berth will be awarded to the runner-up or the highest placed semi-finalist at the event.

Should all semi-finalists and finalists be pre-qualified, the invitation will be extended to the highest placing quarter-finalist in the event that has a world ranking of 32 or greater.

Points earned through designated Satellite Events and GSOC events throughout the season will be used to determine the final ranking ahead of the GSOC Players’ Cup.

The season finale will feature the top 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams based solely on their performance in GSOC events and Satellite Events.