Olympic, world, national and provincial champions are on Okotoks’ pebbled ice this week.
The ATB Okotoks Classic returns to the Okotoks Curling Club from Sept. 19-22 with international and local flair showcasing the roaring game over four days of competition.
The opening draw on Thursday at 9 a.m. will feature some of the biggest names in the sport with two-time world champion Kevin Koe and 2014 Olympic champion Brad Jacobs both in action.
Jacobs has taken over as skip on Brendan Bottcher’s old team this season, a highly decorated squad featuring Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert. The previous iteration of the team has won the past two Okotoks ATB Classic titles with Koe taking the 2021 championship.
Jacobs isn’t the only Olympic champion in the event with the United States’ John Shuster, the 2018 gold medallist, leading his squad into the competition.
The field also includes the reigning U21 Canadian champions, Team Kenan Wipf, which features Diamond Valley’s Michael Keenan at second.
Okotoks’ James Balance, a two-time national qualifier at the junior level, is skipping his team at his hometown rink with Diamond Valley’s Jacob Libbus, a U18 and junior national qualifier, also throwing fourth stones on familiar ice.
The 24-team event features reigning Brier runner-up Mike McEwen and a number of top Alberta teams led by the likes of Ryan Jacques, Johnson Tao and Cole Adams and international foursomes from China, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Switzerland.
The draw on championship Sunday sees the semifinal at 10 a.m. and final at 2 p.m.
A link to the full schedule can be found here.
The Okotoks Curling Club will be live-streaming the event on its YouTube page.
Ticket information and more is available at okotokscurling.com.
