Curling began to draw recognition as an organized sport back in 1927 when the first Macdonald Brier was played at the Granite Curling Club in Toronto.

An administrative body for the men’s sport was created eight years later with the founding of the Dominion Curling Association on March 6, 1935.  Thirty-two years later – in 1967, the year of Canada’s centennial – the organization adjusted to the times and changed its name to the Canadian Curling Association.

Women’s curling was launched officially with the formation of the Canadian Ladies curling Association in 1961, when the inaugural Canadian Ladies Curling Championship was played at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club in Ottawa.

The CCA and CLCA continued as independent organizations until they amalgamated to form the Canadian Curling Association in 1990.  Today, the CCA is recognized as the national administrative body for curling in Canada by Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the World Curling Federation.  It is governed by a 10-member board of directors.  Provincial and territorial associations nominate candidates to the Board, whose members are elected to five-year terms by all CCA members.

For legislation to become CCA policy, it must be approved during the annual general meeting, which is held in June.  Each province and territory is represented by two voting delegates, for a total of 28.  In addition, each board member has a vote for a grand total of 38.  The president holds the tiebreaking vote.

The board elects a president and vice-president from within its ranks for one-year terms.  For 2007-08, Moncton's Al Forsythe is President and Bathurst's Beth Sullivan is Vice-President.

The CCA office is in Ottawa where day-to-day affairs are handled by acting chief executive officer Patricia Ray and a professional staff of 12.

CCA activities generally fall into three specific areas – championships, high performance and development.

Championships

The primary area of administration, championships are the most financially consuming of the CCA’s responsibilities. 

In 1994, the Canadian Curling Association, in concert with the St. Clair Group of Toronto, developed a novel approach to marketing national and international curling championships.  They created a series of championships named the Season of Champions that included the Canadian Mixed, the Canadian Seniors, Canadian Juniors, Tournament of Hearts, Brier, World Juniors and World Men’s and Women’s. 

Broadcast contracts were struck with the CBC and TSN and the combined efforts of the two networks ensured that championship curling would be aired on Canadian television of about 180 hours a year.

A key component of the television agreement was the acquisition of a significant amount of advertising or commercial time that was combined with inside-the boards signage to fulfill commitments to title sponsors and official suppliers.  The concept provided each sponsor and supplier with an attractive combination of on-air advertising and venue signage over an extended period of time on television.

Each title sponsor received all of the on-air and venue signage name-recognition benefits of being a title sponsor.  In addition, each sponsor was provided with a large amount of air time during telecasts of its sponsored event.  Additionally, each sponsor had signage at each and every Season of Champions event, as well as a full television advertising package for the entire Season of Champions.

The original Season of Champions concept worked very well from 1995 through today and took curling to an entirely new level in terms of television coverage and public profile.

By 2000, however, it was becoming clear that the Seniors and Mixed events had problems.  Their TV viewing numbers were weak and there was no strong connection between these two events and any of the others within the Season of Champions.  As a result, the CCA worked with the World Curling Federation to create the Continental Cup of Curling (which was a Ryder Cup version of competition) and the Strauss Canada Cup (designed to play a role in qualifying teams for the Canadian Curling Trials).

In December 2007, the fifth annual Continental Cup will be staged in Medicine Hat, Alberta.  The competition had quickly come of age.

The CCA is responsible each year for organizing and operating all Season of Champions events.  The CCA is directly responsible for all of the technical aspects of each event and provides substantial funding in support of officials, statisticians and ice technicians.  In addition, direct hands-on assistance is provided in all areas associated with television and media. 

But, it is the dedicated host committees that are responsible for staging the events.  The CCA provides direction in all aspects of the championships and financial assistance in critical areas of operation.  The 2008 Tim Hortons Brier in Winnipeg marks the tenth time the CCA has applied an event-management model to the Brier that places a large amount of the event’s day-to-day operation ion the hands of professionals.  Three other events – the Continental Cup, the Ford World Women’s and The Scotties Tournament of Hearts – are also under full event-management.

CCA professional staff and volunteer officials also are on hand for all championships to ensure their successful operation.  Warren Hansen, who is manager of event operations and media relations; Danny Lamoureux, the manager of championship services; CCA-appointed head official, and the CCA President are the key CCA people on site for event-managed properties.

High Performance

In February of 1998, curling made its first appearance as a medal sport at the Olympic Winter Games.  The CCA places a high emphasis on the involvement of curling in the Olympics and was thrilled when the Canadian teams, skipped by the late Sandra Schmirler and Mike Harris, brought home gold and silver medals respectively.

In addition to the responsibility of selecting and training teams for the Olympics, those responsible for high performance also deal with national team programs and the development of Level 4 and Level 5 coaches.

Ottawa-based Gerry Peckham is the CCA’s manager of high performance and the team leader for Canadian curling at the Olympic Winter Games.

The CCA also operates a national training centre in Calgary with financial support from the Calgary Olympic Development Association.  Paul Webster works from his office at the Calgary Winter club as the national development coach.

Development

Another active division of the CCA, development primarily involves a series of programs aimed at retaining curlers and at developing programs and materials to recruit new ones.  It is through the development programs that direct contact is maintained with the 1,100 affiliated curling clubs, 14 provincial and territorial associations and 1.1 million Canadians who play the sport each year.

Danny Lamoureux is the Manager of Curling Club Development.