A North Vancouver curler who took her talents to the East Coast has been rewarded with a national title after helping Team Nova Scotia claim gold at the 2024 Canadian under-21 curling championships.
Windsor Secondary grad Grace McCusker played lead for the team skipped by Ally McNutt that scored a perfect 10-0 record to win the U-21 national championships held last month in Fort McMurray, Alta. The win earned the foursome a trip to the World Junior Curling Championships scheduled for February of 2025 in Italy.
McCusker is in her second year at Dalhousie University, having helped the Tigers win silver in the USports Championships in 2023 and bronze in 2024. She has succeeded in the sport despite having limited facility options on the North Shore. She competed in the North Shore Winter Club junior program for two years before the club eliminated its curling rink, forcing McCusker to join the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster.
The name McCusker may sound familiar to curling fans – Joan McCusker won an Olympic gold medal for Canada in 1998 on a team skipped by the late, great Sandra Schmirler. Joan is apparently a relative, albeit a slightly distanced one: she’s married to Grace’s dad’s cousin.
