Gas King Fuels 2019 World Men’s Curling Championship

PHOTO CAPTION: L to R: Kelly Klimchuk, Scott Sibbet, Allan Stenbeck, Brent Morris

In the Fall of 2018 when Curling Canada contacted Gas King president Brent Morris to inquire about a possible sponsorship for their curling championship in April 2019, it was a no brainer. Gas King had already sponsored seven local curling championships since 2000. The sponsorship comprised of providing Gas King fuel for the shuttle vehicles used to transport the curling teams to and from the hotel to the curling venue and included a carwash on the day that vehicles are returned to the car dealership.

A total of 13 member associations competed in Lethbridge, Alberta, which is the second year of a 13-team format. Teams qualified through Pacific-Asia, Le Gruyere AOP European Championships, Americas Challenge, and the World Qualification Event. Teams were from China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, USA and of course, Canada.

“Curling Canada has always been very organized and are great to work…we get great exposure” states Morris. Gas King has received some great perks in the past in return for supplying fuel. Tickets to the opening reception and to watch the curling, including meals in the sponsorship lounge, online recognition, signage at the venue, program ads, pins with the Gas King logo on them, merchandise, and new this year – they had the Gas King logo on 24 Murray’s Chev Cadillac shuttle vehicles driving around Lethbridge. We distributed the curling and meal tickets to Gas King account holders and employees, which all were very well received.”

Also part of the deal this year was that Gas King received Curling Rocks t-shirts with their logo and the other sponsor’s logos on the back of the shirt.

“We decided to outfit all of our local store employees, so we purchased a box of shirts from Curling Canada and asked our staff to wear them for two weeks – one week before the start of the event and while the event was on,” says Morris. Gas King also provided the organizers with $20 Gas King gift cards which were given out as trivia contest prizes to the fans watching the curling at the Enmax Centre.

When the call for volunteers went out to assist at curling’s legendary party place, The Patch, Morris and three members of the Gas King management team stepped forward to help serve thirsty curling fans. “We had a blast,” claims Morris, “and we would gladly do it again.”

Gas King District Sales Manager, Kelly Klimchuk, had an extra busy night. When finished with his shift at the bar he and his band, Uncovered, hopped on stage and played dance music until after midnight. “But he was still at work for 8 a.m.,” Morris said laughing.

All in all, it was a great week of curling, and Gas King is looking forward to doing it all again whenever that may be.

“Lethbridge is a hot bed for curling and has done a fantastic job hosting many world class curling events – so who knows; the fun may be back here sooner than we think,” says Morris.

The Canadian team skipped by Calgarian Kevin Koe made it to the final game by beating Switzerland in extra ends but lost to Sweden with a packed house on Sunday.

“That was the only disappointment – but Sweden has won many championships, and now we know why,” says Morris.