Anticipation for the men’s national curling championship has been building for years, and the Kelowna curling community is hoping the high-profile event will show people what the sport is all about.

Kelowna Curling Club general manager Jock Tyre said the Montana’s Brier is a great way to bring attention to the fact that curling is more than just a sport for older people.

“The anticipation has been huge. It’s been six years since it was announced that we were going to get it,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is introduce it to a group of people that have never been exposed to it. So there’s a lot of excitement in the fact that young people, who really don’t know what’s going on with the Brier and everything, are all of a sudden going to be here and they’re going to see the Brier.”

The country’s best men’s curling teams will be going hard at Prospera Place from Feb. 28 to March 9, and the Kelowna Curling Club is going to be hosting viewing parties all the way through since tickets are likely to sell out.

“It’s just going to be packed, and so there won’t be room for everybody, and we’re hoping that what happens is people come over here and join us at the Kelowna Curling Club,” Tyre said. “We’re doing live music every night while the Brier is on between the games, so it’s going to be pretty exciting… We’re probably going to have a few of the players coming over and joining us here, but to me it’s more important that they’re going to get to see some of the fans that travel across the country just to come watch curling.”

Tourism Kelowna has estimated that the Brier is going to bring in roughly $12 million to $14 million in economic impact.

“I think that’s a very conservative estimate. When you look at us filling the arena, we’re going to fill the arena for nine days,” Tyre said. “You’ve got different people coming and going all the time, so we’re going to spend a lot of money in the hotels and in the restaurants.”

With all the buzz about the Brier, Tyre said people can see that curling is about bringing people of all walks of life together.

“We’ve tried to create an environment at the club that’s more of a social club than just a curling club,” he said. “We bring outside groups in, like music and comedy, we have ping pong and pool tables and shuffleboard and air hockey and foosball. So there’s a lot of activities to do here at the club. So we’re a real community building.”

Tyre has been curling since he was 12, and he said too many people think it’s not a young person’s game.

“Everybody sees these old guys curling and that’s what they think it is. But if you come down at night we’ve got our younger people and it’s active and busy,” he said. “It’s definitely becoming younger all the time.”

The curling club also has a ticket swap on its website to help people sell their Brier tickets if their plans have changed.

Tyre said anyone who’s interested should come down and give sliding the rock a shot.

“Come on down and watch and get to know some people that are here, and we’ll get you out there and get you playing the game and give it a try,” he said.

Click here for more information about the national men’s curling championship.