HOUSTON—Haweater Greg Major, who is originally from Gore Bay, is the coach of a ladies’ curling team that won the US Arena Curling National Championship.
“Our ladies’ team from the Houston Curling Club competed in the 2023 Arena Curling National Championship earlier this month and won the gold medal national championship. The team has won this championship three years in a row (2019, 2022, 2023), with the competition having been paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022 and 2021),” Mr. Major told The Expositor. Team Segovia includes skip Julie Segovia, vice Alyssa Parks, second Heather Cook, lead Jessica Bostwick, alternate Sara Whiting and coach Greg Major.
Teams from arena clubs around the US travelled to Eveleth, Minnesota to compete in the 2023 Arena Curling National Championship. Curl Mesabi hosted the event for the second consecutive year, bringing in 24 teams that regularly play on multi-use arena ice.
Team Segovia finished pool play with a 4-1 record. They faced Team Feldman from the Wine Country Curling Club (California) in the semifinals, winning 11-4. They went on to play team Asis from the Silicon Valley Curling Club in the event final. The score remained tight through six ends, but Team Segovia won the game 5-2 after scoring a decisive three points in the seventh end.
“The Arena Club National Championship is such an important part of our championship schedule, giving these athletes an opportunity to compete for a national title on ice prepared by head ice technician Shawn Olesen and his volunteer crew,” said USA Curling Chief Executive Officer Dean Gemmell in a release. “We are also grateful for the support of Curl Mesabi, a member club that has put on a great event two years in a row.”
Mr. Major and the Segovia team are all members of the Houston Curling Club. He explained since the John Shuster USA rink won the 2018 Winter Olympics gold medal, “there has been a lot more interest in curling in the US.”
“In the southern half of the US where there are almost no dedicated curling clubs, and clubs have to play on arena ice,” explained Mr. Major. “We rent ice from hockey arenas and have to mark the house and lines.”
Mr. Major “used to be an avid curler at the Gore Bay Curling Club. When I was about 18 or 19, I was the vice on the rink skipped by Ted Jackson, who also had Greg McLean as second and Willis Campbell as lead. We played curling bonspiels around the Island and at out-of-town events in places like Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. We probably won every men’s bonspiel on Manitoulin one year or the other.”
“When I lived and worked in Sault Ste. Marie (from 1980-1995) I played at the Tarentorus Curling Club and the Soo Curlers Association,” said Mr. Major. “And I used to curl for the Royal Canadian Legion in the Sault at district championships in areas like Sudbury and Parry Sound. The rinks I curled with won districts five times and went to the provincials.”
When he moved to the US to live and work, “I didn’t curl for 17 years,” continued Mr. Major. “Then I joined the Potomac Maryland Curling club in 2014-2015, then at the end of the season I had moved to Houston and joined the Houston Curling Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020.” He still actively curls.
“I have been coaching about four years,” said Mr. Major. He explained two years ago Mr. Shuster organized and started a five and under curling program in the US, based on the number of years a curler (of any age) has been curling. “One of the players in the league was Alyssa (Parks) who had asked me to coach her team in the national playoff. There were four teams in the semifinals, three were all men’s teams from Wisconsin, and Alyssa who is from the Houston Curling Club arena team. We lost the bronze game to finish fourth in the US two years ago but were first in the ladies’ Arena Curling Association.”
The team was first in the Mid-America Curling Association regionals last year, then went on to the US National Curling nationals finishing fourth. They also won the US Arena Curling National Championship.
Mr. Major will coach the Segovia Houston Curling Club ladies’ team at the Mid-America Curling Association playoffs being held December 2-4 in Denver, Colorado.
