2 Sask. wheelchair curling teams heading to championships, pushing for greater accessibility in sport

After just one season of competing together, a Saskatoon-based wheelchair curling team is heading to Quebec this week to take on the best in the country.

Team Andrews, named after skip Pete Andrews, will be making its first appearance at the 18th edition of the 2025 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in Boucherville, south of Montreal.

The team will face an uphill battle thanks to another team from Saskatchewan: Team Dash is hoping to come out of the competition with their third consecutive national title and sixth overall.

Team Andrews qualified after finishing second at the 2025 Saskatchewan Wheelchair Curling Championships in Moose Jaw to Team Dash. Because Team Dash won the national championship in 2024, Saskatchewan was allowed to send a second team to this year's event.

"Our final came down to Team Andrews from Saskatoon against Team Dash, and it was a battle right to the end," said Steve Turner, executive director at CURLSASK. "Those are our two teams heading to nationals in Quebec."

Mark Kennedy, who plays third for Team Andrews, said the team's inexperience made qualifying for nationals a welcome surprise.

"We reached out to people in the community, formed a team for the 2024–2025 season, joined a couple of leagues and just ran with it," Kennedy said.

Kennedy, lead Ashley Baerg and Andrews work together in Saskatoon, a connection that served them well at the provincials last year.

"It was a really good road to get to that point," Kennedy said. "Lots of lessons learned and growth over that whole period and, yeah, looking forward to going to nationals." 

Still many accessibility barriers

Despite their growing success, Kennedy pointed out that there are currently no adaptive wheelchair curling leagues in Saskatoon.

"We've been playing in able-bodied leagues at the Sutherland Curling Club and the CN Curling Club," he said.

Steven Draude, who plays third on Team Andrews, only began curling last year following a spinal cord injury suffered in a snowmobile accident in 2020. He says there are still many barriers to accessibility in wheelchair sports, especially curling. 

"The curling rink that we curled at in the league — just as an example — that parking lot is crushed rock," Draude said. "I mean, easy enough to walk on, but not that easy to get across with a wheelchair."

Still, Draude says, local rinks in Saskatoon have been making efforts to improve accessibility. 

"Our home rink, the Sutherland, they tried to accommodate us very well," he said. "But you know, even that rink they have to specifically set out ramps for us when we're going to come to the rink because if they don't we can't access the building, let alone the ice."

Creating greater awareness

With two teams heading to nationals, one in its first year of competition, Draude hopes more people in the province will begin to see how inclusive curling can be.

"I think more people will realize how accessible of a sport it is," Draude said. "You know, it's not without its challenges — like the parking lot and the ramps and that kind of stuff — but the clubs, they want more curlers and they're willing to do things to accommodate us, which is fantastic." 

That sentiment was echoed by Turner, noting that CURLSASK is actively working with local clubs to grow the sport in Saskatchewan. 

"We're also looking at that side, working with our curling clubs and helping them to improve their accessibility so we can help grow the wheelchair side of the sport," Turner said. 

Kennedy hopes the team's success will lead to progress for adaptive sports across Saskatchewan. 

"It's really good to be able to play in these leagues, that they accept us," he said. "Even though we play a little bit differently, they don't care." 

With nationals beginning on Monday, Team Andrews is focused on representing Saskatchewan, and showing that wheelchair curling has a strong future on the Prairies.

"I'm not a professional, roughly, but you know, here I am representing the province at national championship for wheelchair curling and it's something that I think anybody with a wheelchair or living in a wheelchair could do, almost anybody, because it is such an accessible sport," Draude said.