Over the next eight days, the best female curlers in the world will battle to decide a champion at the BKT Women’s World Curling Championship in Calgary.
Thirteen teams descended on the WinSport Event Centre Friday for their final preparations ahead of the tournament, which begins Saturday.
“It’s always an honour to wear the maple leaf and be back on home soil,” said Team Canada skip, Kerri Einarson.
Einarson is back at the tournament for the first time since 2023, when her Gimli, Man., rink took home bronze medals.
Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard and Karlee Burgess round out the Canadian squad.
“We’re ready to have all the fans in the stands, see all the cardboard cutouts … it’s going to be exciting, Einarson said.
Calgary last hosted both the men’s and women’s world championships in 2021 during a modified event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The women’s event was won by Switzerland that year, the second of four straight titles for skip Alina Pätz.
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Canada has won the past two women’s titles, represented in both 2024 and 2025 by Ontario skip Rachel Homan.
“We’ve had some good training days,” Einarson said. “Rachel’s definitely set the bar high for us.”
“We have lots of family and friends that can come down,” Sweeting said. “To be back and (represent Canada) again is really special.”
And the Canadian rink is hopeful they can take advantage of that home ice advantage.
“We’re so familiar with the building, familiar with the area,” Birchard said. “We’ve had some really great experiences.”
As it often does in Olympic years, the sport is riding a high after an entertaining — and controversial — tournament in Milano Cortina last month.
Organizers say they’re excited to capitalize on the sport’s surge in popularity.
“We’re noticing an uptick with the memberships at curling clubs in this area,” explained Atina Ford Johnston, the tournament’s vice chair of volunteer services. “All attention that comes to curling is good attention for us, because we want to welcome more people into our community.”
The committee ran fan festivals at Calgary Olympic Park during the Olympic tournament and Ford Johnston says more than 5,000 people took part.
Ford Johnston says Einarson’s rink also spent time at her home club in Okotoks before the tournament, not only preparing but inspiring the next generation of young female curlers.
“They’re so gracious in offering opportunities to talk to those kids, take pictures with them … they’re a wonderful representative for our country.”
Curling Canada expects the tournament to generate roughly $11 million for Calgary’s tourism sector.
Team Canada will start their tournament on Saturday with a headline match against Sweden and skip Isabella Wranaa, who won an Olympic gold medal in mixed doubles curling earlier this year.
The action continues at WinSport Event Centre through the gold medal match on March 22.
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