Curler Brad Gushue rips World Curling for 'incompetence' in organizing Kelowna event

One of Canada's top curlers, Brad Gushue, says the World Curling Federation's planning and delivery of the Pan Continental Curling Championships taking place in Kelowna, B.C., this week is an embarrassment to the sport and the competitors.

Gushue is angry about a number of issues relating to this year's event, including players having limited space to warm up and practice, largely because of the decision to hold the event in a community curling club rather than an arena that is equipped with more facilities.

"This is an embarrassment. There's a level of incompetence there that needs to be corrected," Gushue said. 

"The way the WCF has run this week, it's a joke. It's a big step back from the event we had last year. I don't understand why they've gone this route. I understand you have to give teams a chance to qualify for worlds and what not, I understand that. But I think there's different ways it could be done."

This is just the second time this event has taken place after being voted in by WCF's member association in 2021 as a way to improve competition and participation in the Americas and Pacific-Asia regions.

Last year's inaugural event, where Gushue won men's gold and Kerri Einarson women's bronze, was held in Calgary's Markin MacPhail Centre, where the Scotties, Brier and world championships were held during the curling bubble in 2021 in the midst of the pandemic.

Gushue's and Einarson's teams are also Canada's representatives at this year's tournament. The top five women's and men's teams qualify their country for the upcoming world championships this season. 

Gushue says he feels the curling and curlers are secondary to everything else. 

"None of us are getting paid to be here and they're selling tickets. There