In the span of 36 days, from late-March to the first few days of May, Scottish skip Bruce Mouat won a men’s world curling championship in Moose Jaw, Sask., the AMJ Players’ Championship in Toronto and then captured the silver medal at the mixed doubles world curling championship in Fredericton.
It was a wicked 24 days of curling that would test Mouat physically and mentally in a way he’s never experienced in his career. From the grind of pressure-packed games, late nights, early mornings and traveling across Canada, Mouat was pushed.
And he delivered.
Also squeezed into that busy five weeks was The Curling Group’s inaugural Rio Mare Battle of the Sexes game featuring Mouat versus Team Homan — Mouat won that game too.
It’s the kind of curling stretch people who play this sport at the highest level could only dream of. And Mouat is living it.
He has the perfect demeanour to have endured such a stretch — fiercely competitive and dialed in on the ice, and massively humble, reflective and kind off the ice. This mix has allowed him to catapult to the top of the curling world.
The world championship title this past season was the second of Mouat’s career, having won on Canadian soil two years ago when he defeated Brad Gushue in the title game in Ottawa. His Grand Slam victory in Toronto immediately following the world title was remarkably impressive, considering he had just come off the world championships and immediately into the Slam.
Mouat made history with that Players’ Championship victory, becoming the first team ever to win four Slam titles in a single season.
And if that wasn’t enough, he then traveled to New Brunswick, where he was tasked with helping qualify Great Britain for the Olympics in mixed doubles with partner Jennifer Dodds. The Scottish duo would make it all the way to the final, eventually losing to Italy 9-4 in the gold medal game, but got the job done in qualifying for the Olympics.
It’s been nonstop since with media appearances, speaking engagements, trips to remote locales and sponsorship obligations. Mouat hasn’t had all that much time to decompress from his most recent triumphs.
“People have told us it is one of the most successful seasons, and I believe them. I think it’s kind of crazy that we did that,” Mouat recently told John Cullen during a Broom Brothers podcast.
Cullen was quick to affirm Mouat’s words about it being one of the best seasons ever.
“You’re allowed to say it out loud,” Cullen said, laughing.
“OK, so one of the best seasons as a team ever. Thank you,” Mouat responded.
Here’s the thing about the 30-year-old from Scotland. He doesn’t really like any of this attention. He’d much rather it be about somebody else. Unfortunately for him, he’s just that good.
He’s quick to deflect. Immediately turns the spotlight towards his teammates. And at every opportunity, he wants to make it about every other person but himself.
It’s who he is. It’s what makes him great. And his team has found the perfect recipe for success.
“All four of us are very different, and it’s just created this really fun environment. We try to make it as fun as possible. And when we realize that we’re not having fun, we try to figure out a way to make it fun again,” Mouat said.
“The guys have just been incredible to me and my kind of journey. I, hopefully, have been able to support them as much as they have supported me. I’m very grateful to have been a part of this team.”
Mouat, Hammy McMillan Jr., Bobby Lammie and Grant Hardie have once again been named to represent Team GB at the Olympics. It marks the first time the same foursome from Great Britain is going to back-to-back Olympics in curling.
They won silver in Beijing in 2022 and are doing everything they can right now to take one step higher at the Olympics this upcoming February — that includes already getting on the ice for practice.
“Last Monday, I woke up and I was like, do I want to go curl? Probably not, but I went in and I was pretty happy,” Mouat said.
“I’m kind of glad that I’ve got a routine back, so I don’t mind being back on the ice. It’s not like we’re doing really technical stuff yet. We’re just trying to get the muscle memory back. So I don’t really mind being back on.
“Maybe it could have been another week or two longer, but I’ve got quite a lot of goals for this season, so I’m quite happy to start training towards them.”
Alongside his lofty ambitions for this upcoming season, Mouat has also been named one of the six Rock League captains to help usher in the first season of the professional curling league.
Like many of the other captains — Brad Jacobs, Alina Pätz, Rachel Homan, Korey Dropkin and Chinami Yoshida — Mouat says he was pleasantly surprised to get the call to be one of the captains.
“I think when I first was in the conversations about it, I was like, are you sure you want to pick me?” Mouat said.
“I think it was just a bit of an honour, like a bit of a shock as well, that they wanted me to captain the team. I still feel like I’m reasonably young, so when I was asked to do it, I was like, that sounds amazing.”
Mouat said he plans to play for at least another Olympic quad, which also sets him up well to participate in Rock League for a substantial amount of time.
“I still think I have a few years to go in my career. You never know how long this could last for but it was just really exciting to have this opportunity,” Mouat said.
“And I never really thought a professional league was going to be a thing in my career span, so having that opportunity, I’m pinching myself really.”
Mouat has goals on the ice and away from the ice as well. He has been very public about being a proud, openly gay man in sports and hopes to help create the first LGBTQ+ curling league in Scotland.
He wants to do everything he can to grow the game in the birthplace of curling — and to make it accessible to more people.
“It’s just really nice to see in Scotland we have a lot of juniors that are coming through and getting quite excited about the prospect of playing in Slams or Rock League,” Mouat said.
“They just see a development for them to have a place or even to think that curling is a career option for them, which I think is pretty special.”
For Mouat, it has been — and will continue to be — about keeping one eye on the task immediately in front of him and the other on the bigger picture of what he can mean to so many others.
Just the way he’d want it.
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