Every two years the Ontario’s Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries hosts the ParaSport Winter Games (PSWG). The program is administered by the Ministry’s Games Ontario.
The Ontario Curling Council participates in the ParaSport Winter Games as the official Provincial Sport Organization for the sport of curling, operates the curling competition and liaises with the Games Program, host committees, athletes and coaches leading up to the games and at the games.
The 2019 ParaSport Winter Games will be hosted by the Region of Durham. The curling venue is the Oshawa Curling Club – which will undergo some changes to become accessible. The ParaSport Winter Games will occur from February 8-10, 2019.
Two disciplines will be invited to participate in the ParaSport Winter Games – Wheelchair Curling and Vision-Impaired Curling.
Invitations will be extended in the following order:
Wheelchair Curling (Six teams):
- Top three finishers from the 2018 CurlON Provincial Championship (3/4 of team must be intact from previous year)*
- Top two finishers from the 2018 NOCA Provincial Championships (3/4 of team must be intact from previous year)*
- Lottery – newly formed teams or teams who did not finish in the invitation spots of their provincial championship. Teams wishing to submit their team’s name for a lottery spot must do so in writing with all four teammates (and coach – if applicable) to Jennifer Ferris at jennifer@ontcurl.com by December 21, 2018 at 12:00 pm EST.
*If a top provincial finishing team turns down their spot, that spot will become a “lottery” spot for newly formed teams, or other provincial teams.
Coach Certification Rules: Wheelchair curling team coaches must be Certified Competition Coach.
Vision Impaired Curling (Four teams):
- Top four finishers from the 2018 Ontario Blind Curling Championship (3/5 of team must be intact from previous year) – if invitation is declined, invitation will go to the next team/club from provincial finishes.
Coach Certification Rules: Coaches of Vision Impaired Teams
2019 ParaSport Winter Games – No Coach Certification Required BUT must have a valid Criminal Record Check (Police Check) on file with the Ontario Curling Council.
2021 ParaSport Winter Games – Minimum Club Coach Trained or Competition Coach Trained and a valid Criminal Record Check on file with the Ontario Curling Council.