Reception Held for the Hokkaido Curling Association Junior Curling Team and Mr. Wally Ursuliak
On September 6th, a reception was held at the Official Residence of the Consul-General of Japan in honour of the junior athletes from the Hokkaido Curling Association who were on a training mission in Calgary, as well as the distinguished athlete and Curling Canada Hall of Fame member, Mr. Wally Ursuliak.
Mr. Ursuliak, who is known for introducing the modern sport of curling to Japan and thus called the “Father of Curling in Japan”, lost his home in a fire at the end of last year. Learning that he lost all of his memorabilia from teaching curling in Hokkaido in 1980, the Hokkaido Curling Association collected photos and commemorative gifts from Hokkaido and presented them to Mr. Ursuliak at the reception. In addition, Mr. Ursuliak gave the Japanese athletes a trophy from an international curling tournament that he had won when he was a professional curler and which had not been damaged in the house fire.
Among the almost 60 guests at the reception were executive members of the Hokkaido Curling Association, Canadian female curling silver medalists, Canadian sports-related government officials and members of the press, all deepening Japan-Canada relations through topics such as the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
The evening began with a greeting from Consul-General Kunihiko Tanabe, who conveyed his appreciation for the efforts of Mr. Ursuliak to strengthen Japan Canada relations through the sport of curling. Consul-General Tanabe also expressed his hope for increased international exchange in anticipation for the Tokyo Olympics. Mr. Ursuliak remarked that the junior athletes standing in front of him are the ones who will lead the sport of curling in Japan and that he is looking forward to their future success.
One of the junior athletes, Ms. Yako Matsuzawa (2016 Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games Gold Medalist) who attended the reception, said that when she participated in the Youth Olympics, the sport of curling helped her overcome differences in languages and cultures, enabling her to interact with athletes from around the world. She expressed her gratitude to Mr. Ursuliak, saying that she would not have had that experience if curling had not been introduced to Japan.