'Just a dream': Volunteers enjoying chance to watch world-class curlers in Fredericton

Oliver Pearson · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 27, 2025 5:11 PM EDT | Last Updated: 28 minutes ago

Organizers are revelling successful the accidental to ticker world-class curlers expanse the crystal at Willie O'Ree Place arsenic a brace of satellite championships unfold this week successful Fredericton.

A full of 67 teams representing 35 countries are competing successful the world mixed doubles curling title and the satellite elder curling title until May 3.

"To spot these players unrecorded successful idiosyncratic is conscionable a dream," said Lorna Campbell, one of 190 volunteers moving down the scenes to signifier the event.

While she helps retired with statistic and timing, Campbell is watching arsenic the competitors successful the mixed doubles title besides effort to suffice for the 2026 Winter Olympics successful Italy.

"I deliberation arsenic an athlete, I don't cognize that there's a bigger imagination than that. So it's truly amusive to travel and ticker these curlers with truthful overmuch connected the enactment and see, hopefully, they'll marque their dreams travel existent and get to the Olympics," she said.

Campbell's daughter Jenna, a young curler who hopes herself to vie for a spot successful the Olympics Games immoderate day, is besides volunteering and has enjoyed seeing apical curling endowment up close.

She said watching the competitors practise their routines volition assistance amended her ain game.

"Getting to spot them enactment truthful hard to execute their dreams is truly inspiring for maine arsenic a younger curler. So, I could decidedly beryllium successful this presumption 1 day," she said.

Event president Wayne Tallon has been portion of the readying process since the World Curling governing body chose Fredericton to enactment arsenic big of the championships much than a twelvemonth ago.

"Today the impervious is successful the pudding, everybody's precise blessed connected the mode things person gone," Tallon said Saturday.

Stephen Muzzerall echoed those sentiments.

The president of the Capital Winter Club, a curling rink connected the southbound broadside of Fredericton, said this week's championships have enactment Fredericton "on the map" for hosting planetary events.

Muzzerall, who said helium archetypal stepped connected a expanse of curling crystal erstwhile helium was three years old, has enjoyed seeing elder competitors specified arsenic Scotland's Tom Brewster and Germany's Andy Kapp who he grew up watching.

But helium said it's besides peculiar to beryllium capable to ticker the "next generation" of top-level curlers similar the Canadian husband-and-wife squad of Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman in the mixed doubles championship.

Gallant and Peterman person started the tourney with three consecutive victories, downing Germany, Denmark and Sweden.