Canada's wheelchair curling team seeks world championship as Paralympic Games loom

National Wheelchair Development Team member Douglas Dean is shown in this handout image in Oakville, Ont. on Oct. 12, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Curling Canada-Michael Burns *MANDATORY CREDIT *

THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Douglas Dean will wear the Maple Leaf for the first time at the world wheelchair curling championship.

The 60-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont., is also the first curler from Northern Ontario to play for Canada in the event.

"It means a lot, especially at 60 years old. I thought my athletic career was over until the sport of curling came about," Dean said.

"What means even more to me is that I am proudly wearing the Maple Leaf, not only representing Canada, but I'm also representing all of the Northern Ontario curlers who did it before me and helped me get to this stage. There's a lot of people that I curled with in Northern Ontario that helped me tremendously in achieving this goal.

"I've packed the team picture in my carry-on luggage, and I'm bringing them to Scotland with me, and I'm putting them in my dorm room. I'm bringing a piece of Northern Ontario with me."

A longtime skip at multiple national championships, Dean will throw second stones for Canada when the 12-country tournament starts Saturday in Stevenston, Scotland.

Jon Thurston of Dunsford, Ont., throwing fourth stones and skip/third Gil Dash of Wolsely, Sask., earned silver medals in the last two world championships.

Collinda Joseph of Stittsville, Ont. and alternate Chrissy Molnar of Trent Lakes, Ont., round out the squad that opens against the United States on Saturday and plays an 11-game round robin before the March 8 medal games.

"Doug has shown a lot of talent for a number of years in the Canadian wheelchair curling scene," Canada's head coach Mick Lizmore said.

"He's a highly proficient takeout player. He can throw the rock pretty hard and that's a skill set that is really, really valuable in wheelchair curling. The position that he's playing kind of aligns with that as well."

Games will be streamed live on curlingchannel.tv and curlingstadiumeurope.com.

Canadian teams have won eight medals in 17 world championships, including three gold.

The 2025 world championship is a qualifier for the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy.

Canada tied for first in qualification points with China, which means a 2026 berth is virtually in the bag. The top nine countries plus host Italy get in.

Canada has work to do, however, in mixed doubles wheelchair curling making its Paralympic debut in Italy.

The world mixed doubles championship, March 11-16, in Stevenston follows the team tournament.

Canada currently ranked seventh in Paralympic qualification must remain in the top seven to punch a ticket to Italy. Only eight teams get in, including the host country.

Canada's duo of Mark Ideson of London, Ont., and Ina Forrest of Spallumcheen, B.C., are international veterans who helped Canada to the back-to-back silver medals in the world team championship.

"Qualifying in the mixed doubles for the Paralympics is a pretty central goal, and being in a position to compete through to the playoffs is always on our minds," Lizmore said. "When you do that as a team, you're setting yourself up for opportunities to compete for medals at the end of the weekend."

Dean uses a wheelchair because he broke his back in an industrial accident at age 19, when he was an iron worker on lake freighters.

He started wheelchair curling in 2011. After just four weeks in the sport, he was invited to be Northern Ontario's alternate at the national championship.

Dean's logged a lot of game reps since then, mostly as a skip. Playing second feels less weighty to him.

"I don't have to worry about calling the game. I don't have to worry about throwing last rocks. I just have to worry about my two rocks and communicating with my team the best I can," he stated.

"Any time an athlete gets the honour of representing their country is huge because there's so many athletes out there that you know could possibly have the chance, or deserve the chance, and just don't have the opportunity. Any time you get that opportunity, you've got to jump on it and make the most of it.

"As any proud Canadian wearing the Maple Leaf, your heart's pumping right?"

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 28, 2025.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press