SUDBURY—Manitoulin-raised Kyle Chandler will soon be on his way to the Canadian Police Curling Association (CPCA)’s national championship in St. John’s this March and April alongside police colleagues from Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins.
“I’m very confident about our team. Our skip Charlie Roberts has been to the mixed nationals at least two times in the last couple of years and is very good. Our second Steve Muenier is going to the nationals this year. Our team is made up of curlers who have been very successful competitively,” says Mr. Chandler, who is the vice on his team and a constable with Greater Sudbury Police Service’s Tactical Unit.
Constable Tony Chilton of the Timmins Police Service is the team’s lead. Mr. Muenier is a sergeant with the South Porcupine OPP detachment and Mr. Roberts is a constable with the Sault Ste. Marie OPP detachment.
“We all get along well and are good friends. We didn’t just choose anybody. The camaraderie is there and we all respect each other. That’s why I’m curling with people from different departments from different ends of the province; we have a lot of fun,” says Mr. Chandler.
He adds that he has competed with this rink in the CPCA for two years. Last year, they had made it to the provincial finals but lost in the end.
Mr. Chandler is not the only Islander who has been participating in competitive curling events this year, nor is he the only competitive curler in his family. His brother Jordan has recently returned from the Northern Ontario Curling Association (NOCA) men’s provincials in Nipigon where his rink finished tied for sixth place.
“I curled with my brother (Jordan) for many years, but I was a couple years into my police career and found it too much for my schedule,” Mr. Chandler says.
At a bonspiel in Sault Ste. Marie that the brothers attended, Mr. Chandler says he met Mr. Roberts who was competing for another rink.
“Through him I found out about the police league and we decided to put a team together,” Mr. Chandler says. The two now serve on the CPCA executive board. The younger Mr. Chandler has also previously served on the NOCA executive board as well.
CPCA is run in much the same format as Curling Canada, with one important exception: all players must be sworn peace officers. This includes police officers, corrections officers, border security officers or conservation officers.
“Competition wise, a lot of these curlers have been involved in competitive curling before in either men’s, women’s or mixed. Many have gone to the national level outside of the police competition,” says Mr. Chandler.
Putting on a competition of this size that involves competitors from across Canada is a challenge, and one Mr. Chandler knows well.
“I helped to host the 2015 national here in Sudbury, but I didn’t play that year. There were a dozen teams for nine days of competitions. We had to do a lot of fundraising; our cost was close to $25,000 to get the ice time, provide meals and transportation,” Mr. Chandler says.
The expense is high for competing teams, too. They have to pay their airfare and hotels for the week-long event.
“We do lots of fundraising to offset our costs. We probably won’t get enough to cover everything, but it’ll certainly be good to help out,” Mr. Chandler says.
He adds that next year’s nationals will be held in Scarborough, so he hopes more local fans will be able to attend those competitions.
The 2019 World Financial Group Canadian Police Curling Championship runs from March 30 to April 6 in St. John’s.
