Only a few days ago, the ice at the Iron Trail Motors Event Center in Virginia was touched with the familiar blue and red lines of a hockey arena. By Sunday evening, it will have transformed into the epicenter of curling.
A bagpiper will lead 40 teams from 25 countries into the opening ceremony for the 2025 Pan Continental Curling Championships, its first time hosted by the United States, competing for a spot in the World Curling Championships next spring.
Behind the scenes, there will be a moment for Ardy Nurmi-Willberg to exhale. Same for Craig Doughty and Stephanie Dowell. Their months of volunteer efforts culminating in an event that will put the Iron Range on the world’s stage.
“It’s the pinnacle of my curling life to be involved in something of this magnitude,” Nurmi-Willberg said. She has curled for 50 years, starting in high school, going through league play and in national events. On the ice, curling in Boston ranks as her top moment in the sport.
As one of the lead event planners, Nurmi-Willberg expected to only be a local resource for curling officials, but the role evolved into video calls, site visits and more hands-on coordination. “Now I have friends from all over the world, and they’re all coming.”
Nearly all 729 volunteer openings for the week-long event are filled. Local members from Curl Mesabi in Eveleth and clubs in Hibbing, Grand Rapids, Duluth and further out helped take roles that required a level of curling knowledge.
But as Nurmi-Willberg worked through the list of people signed up to take tickets and check credentials, she noticed more and more names with no connection to the sport. During a recent grocery store visit, she talked with the cashier about the event, who asked if there was still openings to volunteer.
“They just want to be involved,” she said. “They’re buzzing. They’re excited.”
For Doughty, the community piece of the Pan Continental games arriving on the Iron Range spoke to the beginnings of the Curl Mesabi. It formed in 1988 when Virginia, Eveleth and Gilbert combined to form the larger club.
Now, Curl Mesabi is one of about a handful of U.S. clubs with eight sheets of ice dedicated to curling. It’s hosted a number of USA Curling events, the World Junior Curling Championships and Curling Night in America.
Doughty has curled for about a dozen years. He started during the first funspiel hosted by the Laurentian Chamber of Commerce. His team won — he still has the fleece jacket to prove it — and the interest in the sport stuck.
“This one is exciting,” he said. “It’s really bringing the community together.”
Dowell moved to the region in 2011 when her husband changed jobs. She was always interested in curling and watched the Olympics, but didn’t connect with a local club in the Twin Cities before the move. She started learning the sport at Curl Mesabi and is now the club president.
When the World Curling Federation first considered the Iron Range for the 2025 tournament, it started months of site visits and video calls with officials around the globe. That meant a chance to share more curling stories and how it’s grown.
“I’m excited we can amplify the local curling culture and learn about curling cultures abroad,” she said. “A lot of these people are just starting curling in their country.”
Phill Drobnick, the national team director for USA Curling, said officials estimated the event will bring around 500 people to the Iron Range. That includes athletes, television crews, officials and World Curling Federation people.
The economic impact to the area is expected to be around $1.5 million, on the low end, providing a potential boost during uncertain times for the Range.
“We have a responsibility to them,” Doughty said. “To support the businesses, restaurants and hotels that will benefit from it.”
