Since the introduction of curling at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Great Britain has competed in the sport.
A common mistake is to refer to the team as “Scotland” at the Games, and this mistake is understandable – the country has produced every playing team member to represent GB.
But Stewart Pimblett is determined to change that, an official World Curling reports says.
“We will see if we are the underdog,” said Pimblett, based just outside of Newcastle, who is skipping the England national team at their first World Wheelchair Curling Championship in 21 years.
What stands out when speaking to Pimblett is his refreshing self-belief and his defiance of being second best, all with a playful edge. When I suggested that their upcoming event could be a tricky tie for the visitors, he playfully challenged me to visit Stevenston after England’s match against Scotland, and repeat the statement to his face – after England wins.
Spreading The Wheelchair Curling Word
This defiance has been pivotal in transforming wheelchair curling in England. Pimblett’s ambition to revive English wheelchair curling emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he feared for the sport’s future.
He took to social media, getting in touch with around 100 people – many of them old friends from his time in British wheelchair basketball – to see if they would be interested in trying the sport.
In the end, around 15 people made the three-day trip to Stranraer, deep in the southwest of Scotland and a regional hub for curling, to try the sport. Most of them are still involved today.
With only one curling rink in England, located in the northwest city of Preston, building a strong group of wheelchair curlers has been an impressive achievement, though not without its challenges.
Pimblett’s team is spread across Newcastle and Lancashire, limited by the geographical barrier of the Pennines where slow roads extend travel times.
Despite these challenges, his team – consisting of Karen Aspey, Julian Mattison, Jason Kean and Jean Guild – have persevered, and now spend quality time at the National Curling Academy in Stirling after being selected for the British Curling and England Curling programmes.
Pimblett considers his World Championship debut “ten years in the making”, but his story stretches back to the 1970s when, at nine years old, he was struck by a car in what he considers the “luckiest day of my life”.
After years of playing wheelchair basketball, curling first piqued his interest in 2006 while watching the Olympic Winter Games. However, he struggled to convince a friend to try the sport with him. That persistence eventually paid off in 2010 when he finally convinced that friend to join a try-out session, and from there, he never looked back.
English Cohort Is Growing And So Is Competition
Fast forward to 2025, and Pimblett is no longer desperate to get people involved – there is now a sustainable group of English players on performance programmes. In the past, the British team was effectively a Scottish one, but now there is a legitimate possibility of English players on the squad in Milano Cortina next year, if Britain claim a quota spot.
“It’s going to be very interesting after this World Championship because people are going to be looking over their shoulders. You’re talking 15 players [in contention] because we’ve got a really good squad like in depth as well,” said Pimblett.
“There are five places and hopefully there’s a mixed doubles team going to the Paralympics as well. That takes it up to seven, so we’ve all got to play well for ourselves because you’re fighting for that place on that plane.
“I’m certainly going do what I can to be part of that team as a valued teammate but I’m goning put myself in the best position if I can.
“It’s very exciting for British Curling that they’ve got ten wheelchair curlers curling at this World Championship prior to the Paralympics.”
This success was nearly not the case, as England qualified for the 2025 World Championship via the World Wheelchair-B Curling Championship 2024, by the slimmest of margins. Their victories over Poland and Finland secured a tiebreaker for the final spot in the semi-finals, where they were narrowly defeated by the top-ranked United States, 8-7.
In the bronze medal game, with the final promotion spot at stake, England defeated Czech Republic 7-6 in the final end, dramatically changing the country’s fortunes heading toward the Paralympics. It’s even more impressive considering that the bulk of the team has only been playing the sport for about three years, in a post-pandemic world.
Team Going Strength To Strength
His vice-skip, Jason Kean, was introduced to curling while in hospital at the same time as Pimblett’s friend, who persuaded him to try the sport. In their second interaction, the friend convinced Kean to give Pimblett a call, who viewed the following meeting as an “omen” to give curling a try. Described as the “comedian of the team”, Kean has had some “difficult times” according to his teammate, but credits that curling “turned his life around”.
The same could be said for the other players in the rink. Mattison, who was familiar with the skip when they coached wheelchair basketball together, is considered a “calming influence” on the squad. Aspey is described as “a bit feisty” and an “unbelievable talent” with an impressive sporting pedigree across basketball, athletics and powerlifting. Both these players resigned themselves to a life without sport as they got older, but curling changed that.
“Karen in particular definitely didn’t want to do any sport or travelling, but now she has got such a future in front of her,” added Pimblett.
Despite their relative inexperience, England has delivered some great results so far this season – beating two Scottish teams at the Euro Super League in Stirling in January, as well as securing two victories over defending world champions Norway, led by Pimblett’s friend Jostein Stordahl.
“They said, ‘You’re 2-0 up Stewart,’ and I said, ‘Oh well, it’ll be 3-0 soon!’,” he joked.
Pimblett admits that he was “gutted” not to part of the British team at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games but is determined to change his fortune this time.
“We’ve been rock bottom as a team all within a year, not wanting to curl with each other and we’ve come back and we’re so strong as a unit now – it’s unbelievable,” he said.
“I think no matter what teams throw at us I think, we’re going to have to play well, but teams are going to have to play well against us as well. We as a team are focusing on trying to win a medal at these Worlds, but I personally think what we’ve done over the last 18 months has been amazing so we’ve shown the level we can kill it at.
“We’re going to need a little bit of luck, but we’ve got nothing to lose and all to gain.
“I think we’re going to shock a few people.”