HOUSTON, TEXAS—Greg Major, a Haweater who is originally from Gore Bay, will be skip on the Houston Curling Club men’s rink, and coaching the women’s team at the US Arena National Championships next month.
“I’m thrilled to death to be skipping our men’s team and coaching our ladies’ rink in the national championship,” stated Mr. Major, last week. “When I was living in Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) my rink won the District H Legion championships (which took in the area from Parry Sound to Sault Ste. Marie) five times and qualified for the provincials.” The first year the rink qualified for the provincials they finished in second place with a 10-1 win-loss record.
“When I moved to the US one of things on my bucket list was to curl in the national championships, so I am now able to take this off my list,” said Mr. Major.
Mr. Major coaches the Houston Curling Club women’s rink, which includes Julie Segovia, Alyssa Parks, Heather Cook and Jessica Bostwick, who are three-time gold medal national champions, including winning in 2023.
“The US nationals are similar to the men’s Brier championship in Canada; when you win one year which our ladies’ rink did in 2023, you get an automatic berth into the nationals the next year,” explained Mr. Major.
“Two weekends ago, our men’s team that I skip was at a last chance qualifier bonspiel in Wisconsin,” continued Mr. Major. “We won four straight games to win and have also qualified for the national championship. The rink also includes Carl Schaeper, Don Huggins and Nathan Nissley. His team had placed third at the US Mid-America Curling Championship held earlier this year, but a team from Alaska, which had finished second, decided not to go to the nationals, which left one spot to be filled. “The team we beat in the finals curled in the nationals last year and beat the eventual winner in the round-robin part of the competition.”
“So, I will be coaching our women’s team and skipping our men’s team at the nationals, with both starting October 23,” said Mr. Major.
As he has had surgery to replace his two knees, Mr. Major curls with a stick when he throws the rock.
