Together, We Experienced the Best of CurlingRotary International Fellowships – such a well-kept secret. Well, what are they? They bring together Rotarians, family members, and program participants who share a common passion. Whether it is cycling, wine, photography, hiking, or service projects, these Fellowships create meaningful connections beyond the weekly Club meetings. In fact, Rotary currently offers over 140 fellowships that allow members to build relationships across cultures, professions & borders while strengthening Rotary’s mission of peace and goodwill. Our Norfolk Sunriser experience, our adventure, was with the International Curling Fellowship of Rotarians.
As it unfolded - it was 1 Rotary International World Curling Championship, 4 Participating Countries, 22 Club Curling Teams and 96 Rotarian Curlers – a recipe for fellowship, fun and a wee bit of “The Roaring Game”.
Go to the ‘Read more …’ tab for more on this Fellowship adventure.
Following a qualifying process (a series of Can-Am curling bonspiels), our own Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise (and Simcoe Curling Club) team qualified for, and attended, the 2026 World Curling Championships hosted by the Rotary Clubs of Ayr & Stranraer in Scotland.
The Norfolk Sunrise team of Jim Simpson (Skip), Andy Kooistra (Vice), Keith Jones (Second) & Andrew Watt (Lead) were ready to go! Also attending from D7090 were two teams based on Grimsby – Team G&L; Bill Hughes (his 14th time at the Worlds!), Brenda Rouse, Carolyn Mullins & Jim Howden; along with Team VGs; Rich Hueston, Mary Harding, Sharon Rizutto & Bob Martin.
The 12-day event opened on April Fool’s Day, spanned 10 days of competitive curling and was held in the most unique of venues, a castle-type hotel (the North-West Castle built in 1820 by a Scot who had explored routes through Canada’s North-West passage) with an attached 4-sheet, alpine-decorated curling rink, all put in place by the Hammy McMillan family of deep Scottish curling fame. Perfect!
Organized into a ‘championship’ round of 10 teams and a ‘friendly’ round of 12 teams, our RCNS group was amongst the 10 teams in the championship round. Whilst we fell short of the final ‘championship’ play-offs (won by a team representing the Rotary Club of Grande Prairie Sunrise), we ‘Nor-Folk’ had a terrific time and a great finish. Along the way, we competed in 10 games but we also enjoyed several local Scottish tourist sites, experienced wonderful Scottish food, drink and hospitality, feasted at several Rotary banquets and benefitted from some pretty memorable Rotary fellowship – all of this with Ailsa Craig in the background!
It was great event – together, we became better Rotarians, more experienced curlers and closer friends. What could be better in the “hurry-hard” universe. Perfect!
The Curling Fellowship: indeed, all of us, would love to see more 7090 Rotarian curlers participate in this unique experience – more teams from either side of the border would be warmly welcomed but interesting to note that the USA side of D7090 has yet to discover this great Rotary venture. To learn more about the International Curling Fellowship of Rotarians, click on this link. If you are looking for new ways to deepen your Rotary journey, consider exploring another of the many Rotary Fellowships. You may discover a passion that strengthens your engagement in Rotary while expanding your global perspective. To learn more about Rotary Fellowships, click on this link.
