MINDEMOYA—Several people were on hand August 16 to meet and welcome two members of the Jacobs curling team at the Mindemoya branch of Northern Credit Union. Curling skip Brad Jacobs and lead Ryan Harnden, along with third Ryan Fry and second Eric Harnden, are the current Olympic curling gold medalists, having won the award at the 2014 Winter games in Sochi.
The athletes handed out and signed pictures, autographed many curling brooms, posed for photos, and answered questions.
Mr. Jacobs, who now resides in Sault Ste. Marie (and is originally from Prince, a town north of Sault Ste. Marie), began curling at the age of 10 and started entering competitions while in high school. He was a team skip in the 2004-2005 season and then again from 2008 to the present. His team has won many awards over the years including the 2013 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings championship, the silver medal in the 2013 Ford Men’s World Championship, are the Canadian national champions and are ranked the number one curling team, not only in Canada, but also in the world.
These athletes have won the H.P. Broughton award for sportsperson of the year for Sault Ste. Marie, are in that city’s sports hall of fame and are also on the walk of fame. They are superb athletes who like nothing that winning awards for their city, their province and Canada. They encourage up and coming curlers and love to promote their sport.
After leaving Mindemoya, the curlers went on to meet and greet their fans in Little Current, Espanola and Parry Sound Northern Credit Union branches.
