2 Sask. wheelchair curling teams heading to championships, pushing for greater accessibility in sport

Sarah Onyango · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 28, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

After conscionable 1 play of competing together, a Saskatoon-based wheelchair curling squad is heading to Quebec this week to instrumentality connected the champion successful the country.

Team Andrews, named aft skip Pete Andrews, volition beryllium making its archetypal quality astatine the 18th variation of the 2025 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in Boucherville, southbound of Montreal.

The squad volition look an uphill conflict acknowledgment to different squad from Saskatchewan: Team Dash is hoping to travel retired of the contention with their 3rd consecutive nationalist rubric and sixth overall.

Team Andrews qualified aft finishing 2nd astatine the 2025 Saskatchewan Wheelchair Curling Championships in Moose Jaw to Team Dash. Because Team Dash won the nationalist title successful 2024, Saskatchewan was allowed to nonstop a 2nd squad to this year's event.

"Our last came down to Team Andrews from Saskatoon against Team Dash, and it was a conflict close to the end," said Steve Turner, enforcement manager astatine CURLSASK. "Those are our 2 teams heading to nationals successful Quebec."

Mark Kennedy, who plays 3rd for Team Andrews, said the team's inexperience made qualifying for nationals a invited surprise.

"We reached retired to radical successful the community, formed a squad for the 2024–2025 season, joined a mates of leagues and conscionable ran with it," Kennedy said.

Kennedy, pb Ashley Baerg and Andrews enactment unneurotic successful Saskatoon, a transportation that served them good astatine the provincials past year.

"It was a truly bully roadworthy to get to that point," Kennedy said. "Lots of lessons learned and maturation implicit that full play and, yeah, looking guardant to going to nationals." 

Still galore accessibility barriers

Despite their increasing success, Kennedy pointed retired that determination are presently nary adaptive wheelchair curling leagues in Saskatoon.

"We've been playing successful able-bodied leagues astatine the Sutherland Curling Club and the CN Curling Club," helium said.

Steven Draude, who plays 3rd connected Team Andrews, lone began curling past twelvemonth following a spinal cord wounded suffered successful a snowmobile accident successful 2020. He says determination are inactive galore barriers to accessibility successful wheelchair sports, particularly curling. 

"The curling rink that we curled at in the league — conscionable arsenic an illustration — that parking batch is crushed rock," Draude said. "I mean, casual capable to locomotion on, but not that casual to get crossed with a wheelchair."

Still, Draude says, section rinks successful Saskatoon have been making efforts to amended accessibility. 

"Our location rink, the Sutherland, they tried to accommodate america precise well," helium said. "But you know, adjacent that rink they person to specifically acceptable retired ramps for america erstwhile we're going to travel to the rink due to the fact that if they don't we can't entree the building, fto unsocial the ice."

Creating greater awareness

With 2 teams heading to nationals, 1 successful its archetypal twelvemonth of competition, Draude hopes much radical successful the state volition statesman to spot however inclusive curling tin be.

"I deliberation much radical volition recognize however accessible of a athletics it is," Draude said. "You know, it's not without its challenges — similar the parking batch and the ramps and that benignant of worldly — but the clubs, they privation much curlers and they're consenting to bash things to accommodate us, which is fantastic." 

That sentiment was echoed by Turner, noting that CURLSASK is actively moving with section clubs to turn the athletics successful Saskatchewan. 

"We're besides looking astatine that side, moving with our curling clubs and helping them to amended their accessibility truthful we tin assistance turn the wheelchair broadside of the sport," Turner said. 

Kennedy hopes the team's occurrence volition pb to progress for adaptive sports crossed Saskatchewan. 

"It's truly bully to beryllium capable to play successful these leagues, that they judge us," helium said. "Even though we play a small spot differently, they don't care." 

With nationals opening connected Monday, Team Andrews is focused connected representing Saskatchewan, and showing that wheelchair curling has a beardown aboriginal connected the Prairies.

"I'm not a professional, roughly, but you know, present I americium representing the state astatine nationalist title for wheelchair curling and it's thing that I deliberation anybody with a wheelchair oregon surviving successful a wheelchair could do, astir anybody, due to the fact that it is specified an accessible sport," Draude said.