Sask. athlete makes playoff run at World Wheelchair Curling Championships

John Loeppky · For CBC News

· Posted: Mar 08, 2025 7:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Growing up successful a tiny Prairie town, Team Canada wheelchair curling skip Gilbert Dash was nary alien to the ice.

"When I grew up successful Kipling, Saskatchewan, the hockey rink and the curling rink were attached, the waiting country was successful the middle, and I spent similar a batch of clip astatine the rink. I conjecture you'd telephone maine a rink rat."

Dash continued curling connected and disconnected erstwhile helium reached adulthood, but started taking the athletics much earnestly aft a stint astatine the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre connected him with a unit subordinate intent connected starting a wheelchair curling program.

Now, having won metallic astatine the past 2 World Wheelchair Curling Championships, Dash and his rink are getting acceptable for to implicit against Slovakia successful the bronze medal crippled Saturday at this year's version.

The bonspiel, being hosted successful Stevenston, Scotland, is the past qualifying lawsuit for the 2026 Paralympic Games successful Italy. Canada has already punched its ticket, having each but clinched a berth earlier the championships adjacent began.

Still, erstwhile Dash — who is skipping the squad for the archetypal clip — spoke to CBC Saskatchewan successful the midst of the circular robin, helium wasn't looking excessively acold ahead.

"We're present to marque each changeable truthful that we tin get a W and triumph successful the playoffs."

Wheelchair curling is simply a mixed-gender sport. Dash credits Marie Wright, a Saskatchewanian and longtime fixture wrong the nationalist squad program, arsenic a beardown power connected his career. The 2 inactive curl unneurotic connected the squad that won the provincial rubric this twelvemonth and the nationalist rubric astatine past year's tourney successful Moose Jaw.

"I'm not the archetypal 1 from Saskatchewan to beryllium connected the Paralympic team. Marie Wright was connected the Paralympic squad a fewer years back. So, I besides deliberation that Marie's making it determination helped the athletics a batch successful Saskatchewan, helped others get interested. And truthful I'm hoping to marque the squad to spell to the Paralympics and I anticipation that encourages much radical successful chairs to travel retired and curl." 

The section perspective

Saskatchewan continues to execute good astatine the nationalist level. Winning nationals successful 2024 means 2 rinks from the state volition erstwhile again marque their mode to the 2025 edition, this clip successful Boucherville, Que.

One of the athletes who connected that 2nd squad is Ashley Baerg of Dalmeny. Baerg is nary alien to para-sport, having started her athletics travel successful 2004. She competed for Canada internationally successful wheelchair hoops earlier uncovering waterskiing successful 2013.

While she is not presently focused connected making the nationalist squad successful curling, she has committed to vie astatine the upcoming waterskiing satellite championships this wintertime successful Australia and finds worth successful competing successful aggregate sports passim the year.

Baerg said she was initially brought into wheelchair curling when Jon Thurston, 1 of her nationalist waterskiing teammates who besides curls connected Dash's team, came to the state for a grooming campy and they threw a fewer rocks together. 

Baerg then attended nationals, wherever a emblematic para-sport recruiting process ensued. In para-sports — whether it's successful a gym, a rink or connected the h2o — athletes are ever connected the lookout for caller teammates.

"It would person been the outpouring of 2023 helium came retired to Moose Jaw for the nationalist championships, truthful I took a fewer days disconnected enactment and went and watched him, and of course, erstwhile you amusement up astatine immoderate adaptive lawsuit and aren't progressive with that sport, they leap connected you similar a clump of lions to a artifact of dormant meat."

She passed on her interaction accusation and present competes successful 2 antithetic leagues successful Saskatoon each week, 1 astatine the CN Curling Club and different astatine the Sutherland Curling Club. She said the clubs are unwaveringly supportive.

"We are the lone squad that are successful wheelchairs and they person been thing but accepting and consenting to bash immoderate they request to to accommodate us."

Set to propulsion pb astatine the nationalist championships this April, Baerg said seeing beardown Saskatchewan practice connected the satellite signifier each twelvemonth is simply a constituent of pridefulness for a tiny but increasing wheelchair curling assemblage successful the province. 

"For aggregate radical from our province, past and present, to correspond with the Canadian emblem connected their back, there's immense pridefulness successful seeing that," she said. "I cognize that Gil and Marie person some enactment successful a batch of enactment and person a batch of pridefulness successful doing well, for representing not lone Canada, but for Saskatchewan."

Dash said the squad Baerg is simply a portion of is overmuch improved and that helium expects some squads to vie good connected the nationalist stage.

The roadworthy ahead

Having travel successful 2nd spot during the past 2 satellite championships, to Norway past twelvemonth and China successful 2023, Dash is hopeful his squad tin person occurrence and transportation that momentum into the past twelvemonth of the rhythm going into the Paralympics, but said the contention is lone getting better.

"There's a batch of bully wheelchair curlers retired determination successful the world, and each these countries person been moving really, truly hard, and they're good. Canada's not going to conscionable locomotion retired determination and locomotion implicit everybody conscionable due to the fact that we're from Canada."

Canada fell to China 5-4 successful the semi-final, mounting up Saturday's bronze-medal clash against Slovakia.

Dash believes that the sweat equity the squad has enactment successful volition travel to fruition.

"We judge our grooming is going to instrumentality america a agelong way, and we're going to bash good. Our squad is good, and I judge successful them and our coaching staff."