The Northern Ontario Curling Association is the regional governing body for the sport of

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

History

The NOCA was founded in 2007 upon the amalgamation of the Northwestern Ontario Curling Association, Northern Ontario Ladies Curling Association, the former Northern Ontario Curling Association and Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Curling Association. Prior to 2007, the region as a whole was governed by the Northern Ontario Curling Federation. When it comes to curling in Canada, Northern Ontario is treated as if it were a province. It is the only sub-provincial region that sends teams to the various national championships, though until 2015, the

Scotties Tournament of Hearts The Scotties Tournament of Hearts (''french: Le Tournoi des Cœurs Scotties''; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Associat ...

lacked a separate Northern Ontario team. Northern Ontario's separate entry exists due to historical precedent. Ever since the very first

Brier Briar, Briars, Brier, or Briers may refer to: * Briar, or brier, common name for a number of unrelated thorny plants that form thicket People * Brier (surname) * Briers, a surname * Briars (surname) Places * Briar, Missouri, U.S. * Bri ...

has Northern Ontario been represented. The rest of Ontario is governed by the

Ontario Curling Association CurlON (formerly the Ontario Curling Association) is the governing body of curling in Southern Ontario. Northern Ontario is governed by the Northern Ontario Curling Association (NOCA). The CurlON sends a team to represent Team Ontario at all majo ...

Championships

*Bantams (under 16) *Juniors (under 20) * Men's *

Women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

*Mixed (see

mixed curling This is a glossary of terms in curling. #s During a game, sweepers might call out numbers. These numbers indicate how far the sweepers think the rock in play will travel. This system is relatively new to the game and is often attributed to the R ...

) *Seniors (50+) *Masters (60+) *Wheelchair (see

wheelchair curling Wheelchair curling is an adaptation of curling for athletes with a disability affecting their lower limbs or gait. Wheelchair curling is governed by the World Curling Federation, and is one of the sports in the Winter Paralympic Games. Overview W ...

) *

The Dominion Curling Club Championships The Canadian Curling Club Championships (branded as the Everest Curling Club Championships for sponsorship reasons) is an annual curling tournament held in Canada. The tournament features the top "club level" curlers from every province and territ ...

Notable people

* Frank Sargent (1902 – 1988), founding president of the Northwestern Ontario Curling Association in 1946 *

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

, appointed executive director in 2022.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official site
Curling in Northern Ontario Curling governing bodies in Canada