Saskatoon, March 8 – The Strauss Herb Company, one of Canada’s largest manufacturers and marketers of herbal health products, has signed an agreement to assume the title sponsor role for the Canada Cup beginning in 2005 and in doing so, also becomes a Season of Champions sponsor, it was announced today by the Canadian Curling Association.
The sponsorship deal is for two years, with a three-year option and guarantees that the Strauss Canada Cup will be held in Kamloops through 2006.
In making the announcement, Don Petlak, Canadian Curling Association (CCA) President, said, ‘The CCA welcomes Strauss to the Season of Champions corporate sponsor family. It is most appropriate that a Kamloops-based company would continue to assume the leadership role in the Canada Cup, the national event staged in its home town.’
Strauss has been the lead sponsor of the first two Canada Cups, the curling competition which has been staged in Kamloops in January the past two years. In its inaugural edition in 2003, Alberta’s Randy Ferbey and Ontario’s Sherry Middaugh were the winners, taking home over $50,000 each, in addition to berths into the 2005 Canadian Curling Trials and the 2003 Continental Cup, another innovative curling event introduced by the Canadian Curling Association and World Curling Federation, which debuted that year in Regina.
This year, Ferbey’s team once again successfully defended its Strauss Canada Cup title, while Halifax’s Colleen Jones, now a six-time winner of the Scott Tournament of Hearts after her victory a week ago in Red Deer, captured the women’s event. Both teams won over $30,000 and places on Team North America for the 2004 Continental Cup, slated for November 25-28 in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
‘We at Strauss Herb Company have been very grateful for the opportunity to host this major curling event in our home city of Kamloops,’ said Jim Strausz, General Manager, Strauss Herb Co. ‘The fan response to the telecast of the men’s and women’s finals has been terrific.
‘Now that the Canadian Curling Association has made the Strauss Canada Cup one of the Season of Champions events beginning in 2005, we look forward to increased exposure for the event, which we believe to be one of the finest curling competitions in the country. We have greatly enjoyed our association with the curlers and curling fans and wish to thank the Canadian Curling Association for working with us in continuing to improve the Strauss Canada Cup of Curling.’
The 2005 Strauss Canada Cup will have a new time slot for 2005, scheduled for March 15-20, once again at Sport Mart Place. Teams which have already qualified are Randy Ferbey and Colleen Jones, as defending champions, as well as Quebec’s Marie-France Larouche (runner-up at this year’s Canadian women’s curling championship). The winner of the 2004 Nokia Brier will also qualify.
The remaining 16 teams (eight women’s and eight men’s) will qualify from two new curling competitions, Canada Cup East and Canada Cup West. Both the Canada Cup East and West fields, to be held in December at sites to be confirmed, will each feature 32 men’s and 24 women’s teams.
The teams will qualify for their respective events as current provincial winners/runner-ups, winners of designated bonspiels or as point leaders in the Canada Cup Bonspiel series (Canadian Team Ranking System). Several other teams may be added, if necessary, through results from selected bonspiels.
Once again, the 2005 Strauss Canada Cup winners will get berths into the Canadian Curling Trials in December, at a site and date still to be announced, as well as returning for the 2006 renewal as defending champions.
‘I am extremely proud to witness the growth of the Strauss Canada Cup of Curling,’ said Norm Daley, President of the Host Committee. ‘From humble beginnings, our committee has been able to secure the title sponsorship of Strauss through at least 2006. To date, this event has placed $400,000 of prize money into the hands of competitive curlers. But it is not the prize money that the curlers come for. It is the opportunity to qualify for both the Trials and the Continental Cup that makes this event so important. We wish to thank the Canadian Curling Association for providing these berths in recognition of the quality of the event’s competition. We also thank the Strauss’, Jim Sr., Peter and Jim Jr. for ensuring the success of this event both in the past and for many years to come.’
Strauss joins Scott Paper Limited, Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited and Kärcher Canada as Season of Champions title sponsors for the 2005 season, meaning that, in addition to title sponsorship of a particular event, the companies also receive signage exposure and television commercial time during all Season of Champions events.
Thus, the 2005 Season of Champions schedule is as follows: Kärcher Canadian Juniors, February 5-13 at a site to be announced; Scott Tournament of Hearts, February 19-27 in St. John’s, Newfoundland; The Brier, March 5-13 in Edmonton, Alberta; Strauss Canada Cup, March 15-20 in Kamloops, British Columbia; world women’s championship, March 19-27 at a site to be announced and the Ford world men’s championship, April 2-10 in Victoria, British Columbia.
In its first two years, the Strauss Canada Cup has also been a major fundraiser for the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, which helps families with children who have life-threatening illnesses. In 2003, more than $13,000 was raised. This year, $10,000 has been earmarked from ticket sales and sponsorship revenue.
For further information:
Warren Hansen
Manager of Event Operations and Media
Canadian Curling Association
Cell: 604-329-9850
Local cell: 260-0428