GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alberta, November 16, 2004 The 2006 Ford world women’s curling championship will be staged at the Canada Games Arena in Grande Prairie, March 18-26, it was announced today by the Canadian Curling Association (CCA) and the World Curling Federation (WCF).

‘On behalf of the World Curling Federation and the Canadian Curling Association, it’s my pleasure to announce Grande Prairie as the site for the 2006 Ford world women¹s curling championship,’ said CCA Director Cindy McFeeters. ‘We have great confidence that the city will embrace this event and make it an unqualified success. Grande Prairie has proven its ability to support a variety of sporting events in past and we very much look forward
to working with the host committee and its enthusiastic volunteers in staging this championship.’

The venue, which was built for the 1994 Canada Winter Games, is currently undergoing renovations which will increase the seating capacity to 3,000 from its current 2,400. The building has previously hosted numerous
concerts, car and trade shows and last May was the site of minor hockey’s Royal Bank Cup. It is also the home of the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, the top-drawing franchise in Junior ‘A’ tier
II hockey in Canada last year.

‘We have been working with the Canadian Curling Association for a number of years in the hopes of hosting a major curling event in Grande Prairie,’ said
Ken Truhn, host committee president for the 2006 Ford world women’s curling championship. ‘We are thrilled with the prospect of hosting this competition and giving curling fans in this area the opportunity to see the
best female curlers in the world. We have a strong committee in place and we will be looking for volunteers to fill various positions within the organization.’

Tickets for the 2006 Ford world women’s curling championship are expected to go on sale next February or March. Meanwhile, the 2006 world men’s championship is slated for Lowell, Massachusetts, April 1-9.

Beginning with the 2004-2005 season, the men’s and women’s world championships are once again being conducted at different venues, as they were through 1988. When the separation of the two championships was announced by the World Curling Federation almost two years ago, the Canadian
Curling Association agreed to alternately stage a men’s and women’s world event in Canada each year.

The 2005 Ford world men¹s championship will be held April 2-10 in Victoria, BC, while the world women¹s championship is scheduled for March 19-27 in Paisley, Scotland. In addition, both events will now have 12 countries competing instead of 10 and the Page Playoff System (1 vs 2, winner to final, loser to semi-final; 3 vs 4, winner to semi-final, loser eliminated) will be utilized, instead of the WCF’s traditional 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 semi-final pairings to determine the two finalists.

The world women’s championship began in 1979 in Perth, Scotland and was contested separately from the men¹s championship through 1988. During that time, the women¹s event was held twice in Canada, in 1983 in Moose Jaw and
1986 in Kelowna.

In 1989, both championships were combined for the first time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Canada has since hosted five Ford world men¹s and women¹s championships (Brandon, 1995; Hamilton, 1996; Kamloops, 1998; Saint John, 1999 and Winnipeg, 2003).

Canada has won a leading 13 women’s titles overall since 1979, the latest by Nova Scotia’s Colleen Jones in 2004 in Gävle, Sweden. Among other world women’s records, Sweden¹s Elisabet Gustafson is the only four-time winning skip (1992, 1995, 1998 and 1999) while two-time (1990, 1991) world champion Dordi Nordby of Norway is the all-time leader in appearances as skip (14) and games-won (97).

The Ford Motor Company of Canada began its title sponsorship of the world curling championships in 1995. Last March, the company announced a further two-year-old extension as title sponsor, with a three-year-option, when the event is held in Canada.

For further information:

Warren Hansen
Manager of Event Operations and Media
Canadian Curling Association
Cell: 604-329-9850
warrenhansen@telus.net

Ken Truhn
President, Host Committee
2006 Ford World Women¹s Curling Championship
Tel: 780-532-0840
ktruhn@bigcountryxx.com