Lacombe, Alta., to host 2024 Pan Continental Curling Championships

The Pan Continental Curling Championships are heading to Lacombe, Alta., next season — and three well-known Canadian curlers have banded together in an attempt to reimagine and rejuvenate the event.

Darren Moulding, Chelsea Carey and Colin Hodgson are part of the organizing committee that has landed the annual international event in the Alberta city next October 27 through to Nov. 2, 2024.

"Lacombe is a well-located curling hotbed, with a rich curling tradition. It is the ideal place to host this event," Moulding told CBC Sports. "The facility is ideal and well-maintained, with good proximity to two international airports.

"Lacombe is a friendly, generous place. The curling rink has all of the modern amenities you could ask for and the community strongly supports all kinds of sporting events."

The Lacombe Pan Continental Curling Championships will mark the third time the event is taking place. It was voted in by World Curling's member associations in 2021 as a way to improve competition and participation in the Americas and Pacific-Asia regions. It's also used as a qualifying event for the women's and men's world championships.

The inaugural bonspiel took place at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary — Brad Gushue won gold for Canada and Kerri Einarson won bronze. This past year's event took place in Kelowna, B.C., and fell under harsh criticism from Gushue, who was once again Canada's representative, after he felt the athletes competing were overlooked.

Gushue said the event was an embarrassment to the sport and the competitors, citing a number of issues relating to players having limited space to warm up and practice, largely because of the decision to hold the event in a curling club rather than an arena that is