Gregory Balsdon (born October 9, 1977) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

curler from

North York, Ontario North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

. He currently skips a team on the

World Curling Tour The World Curling Tour (WCT) is a group of curling bonspiels featuring the best male, female, and mixed doubles curlers in the world. History The World Curling Tour was founded by former World Champion Ed Lukowich, with later assistance from Jo ...

Curling career

Balsdon was born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. In 1995, Balsdon won the Ontario Schoolboy championship for his

Don Mills Collegiate Institute Don Mills Collegiate Institute (DMCI) is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the Don Mills neighbourhood, it serves an ethnically diverse student population of approximately 1000. As of 2017, 67% of students speak a first languag ...

team. In 1996, he won the provincial junior mixed title. Balsdon skips one of the top teams in Ontario. As of 2019, Balsdon has played in 13

provincial championships A province is a geographic region within Gaelic games, consisting of several counties of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the historic four provinces of Ireland as they were set in 1610. Provincial councils A provinc ...

. He first played at the provincials in 1999, playing for

John Base John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(4th place). He left the Base rink in 2000 to form his own team. He qualified again in 2002 as a skip, again finishing 4th. His next provincial was the

2005 Ontario Kia Cup The 2005 Kia Cup, southern Ontario men's provincial curling championship was held February 6–13 at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby, Ontario. The winning team of Wayne Middaugh would represent Ontario at the 2005 Tim Hortons Brier in ...

, where his rink finished 4th once again. He qualified again in 2007, where he once again finished 4th at the 2007 TSC Stores Tankard. His next provincial in 2011 would be more successful. At the 2011 provincial championship, he lost to the (then) five-time defending champion

Glenn Howard Glenn William Howard (born July 17, 1962) is a Canadian curler who is one of the most decorated curlers of all time. He has won four world championships, four Briers and 17 Ontario provincial championships, including a record eight straight ...

rink in the final. At the time, Balsdon represented the one-sheet Loonie Curling Club located in Chaffeys Locks, Ontario, north of Kingston. Despite representing the club, he had only played there once. The Loonie was built in 2008, and Balsdon has represented it twice. Balsdon returned to the Tankard in 2012, finishing tied for 8th. Despite battling an injury for much of the season, Baldson won his first provincial men's title in 2014, when his rink defeated Glenn Howard in the Ontario final. The win broke Howard's record eight-year provincial championship streak. The team was named after third

Mark Bice Mark Bice (born October 10, 1984 in Sarnia, Ontario) is a Canadian curler. He used to skip a team on the World Curling Tour. Career Bice had a fairly successful junior career. Bice is a two time provincial junior champion, winning in 2003 and 2 ...

who had skipped the team through zone and regional play due to Baldson recovering from a broken rib. However, Balsdon would skip the team in the provincial championship. The team represented Ontario at the

2014 Tim Hortons Brier The 2014 Tim Hortons Brier was held from March 1 to 9 at the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops, British Columbia. Unlike previous years, the winner of the 2014 Brier automatically qualified for the 2015 Brier as Team Canada, similarly to the S ...

, where they went 5-6 in the round robin, missing the playoffs. The following season, at the

2015 Ontario Tankard The 2015 Ontario Tankard, the Southern Ontario men's provincial curling championship, was held from February 2 to 8 at the Dorchester Flight Exec Centre in Dorchester, Ontario. The winning Mark Kean rink represented Ontario at the 2015 Tim Horto ...

, Balsdon and his rink lost in a tie breaker. Following the season, the team broke up. In 2015, Balsdon formed a new team with Don Bowser,

Jonathan Beuk Jonathan Beuk (born April 18, 1983) is a Canadian curler from Kingston, Ontario. Career While attending Queen's University, Beuk led his team of Andrew Inouye, Chadd Vandermade and Scott Chadwick to a gold medal at the 2010 CIS/CCA Curling ...

and Scott Chadwick. On the tour that season, the team won the 2015

Challenge Casino de Charlevoix The Challenge de Curling Desjardins, formerly the Challenge Casino de Charlevoix is an annual bonspiel, or curling tournament, that takes place at the Aréna de Clermont and the Club de Curling Nairn in Clermont, Québec. The tournament is h ...

. The team played in the

2016 Ontario Tankard The 2016 Ontario Tankard, the Southern Ontario men's provincial curling championship, was held from February 1 to 7 at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre in Brantford, Ontario. The winning Glenn Howard rink represented Ontario at the 2016 Tim Horton ...

, where they lost in the 3 vs. 4 game. The next season, the team won the 2016 GSOC Tour Challenge Tier II event. They missed out on the playoffs at the

2017 Ontario Tankard The 2017 Recharge With Milk Men's Tankard, better known as the Ontario Tankard was the 2017 edition of the Ontario men's provincial curling championship to determine who will represent the province of Ontario at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier, the nat ...

by losing in a tiebreaker. In their last season together, the team played in the 2017 Canadian Olympic Pre-Trials, where they lost in the B semi-final to

's rink. Later that season, they played in the 2018 Ontario Tankard, but failed to make the playoff round. Beginning in 2018, Balsdon formed a new team with

Chris Gardner Christopher Paul Gardner (born February 9, 1954) is an American businessman and motivational speaker. During the early 1980s, Gardner struggled with homelessness while raising a toddler son. He became a stockbroker and eventually founded his ow ...

, Brad Kidd and Andrew Denny-Petch. The team made it to the 2019 Ontario Tankard. Outside of his regular men's team, in October 2011, Balsdon skipped the

Richmond Hill Curling Club The Richmond Hill Curling Club (or RHCC) is a curling centre located in the town of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. The modern RHCC has been in operation since 1959; however, the original RHCC was established in 1889. The club has a 12-person B ...

to the provincial Dominion Curling Club championship. Representing Ontario, Balsdon and his rink lost in the final of the 2011 The Dominion Curling Club Championship to Wade Thurber's Red Deer rink of Alberta. In November 2012, Balsdon won the 2013 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship playing second for Cory Heggestad. And, in 2018, Balsdon won the Ontario Intermediate Men's Championship for curlers over 40. Balsdon won his second provincial curling club championship in 2022 for the

. His rink went on to win the 2022 Canadian Curling Club Championships.

Personal life

Balsdon is employed as an associate golf pro with Meadowbrook Golf and Country Club.2017 Home Hardware RTTR Media Guide

Grand Slam record

References

Change has Balsdon back in Hunt - Toronto Sun

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balsdon, Greg 1977 births Living people Curlers from Toronto Sportspeople from North York Canadian male curlers Canadian mixed curling champions Canada Cup (curling) participants