For Doering, It’s Business Before Pleasure

Kyle Doering loves the sport of curling.

He loves it so much, he put his own impressive career on hold to take the demanding job of general manager of the venerable Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg just to learn more about the intricacies of the sport and its business.

An elite curler himself — he is a former Canadian junior champion and world junior bronze medallist — Doering, born and raised in Winnipeg,  signed up last April to guide the club in his home town.

His own curling career? That will have to wait, he says.

And while that is on the back-burner, Doering does his thing at the Granite, which this week is hosting the 2025 Canadian Club Championships which he says have been an outstanding success.

“This event has been great,” he says. “It’s really good for the grassroots of curling. This is a good event to incentivize people to play for something at the club level.”

It has also been a boon to the Granite.

“This event is phenomenal for the club,” says the 29-year-old Doering, sitting in the cramped quarters of his office at the Granite. “We’re so happy Curling Canada chose us. We got some local grants from our city councillor, from the Province of Manitoba, great sponsorship, great bar sales. This is a big money-maker and big win for the Granite.”

It has been a success for the players, too. Every player will leave Winnipeg with fond memories of the competition and the friendships they made this week. The fondest memories will be for the top four teams from each pool that that qualified for the eight-team playoffs in the men and women categories on the weekend.

 The playoff participants will be declared late Friday night at the conclusion of the round-robin portion of the event.

Both gold-medal games will be played Sunday at 3 p.m.

Doering, along with his other duties at the club, will take in some of the weekend action and no doubt his competitive juices will be stirred. That’s because at some point, he promises, he’ll renew his on-ice career full-time. At present he is listed as an alternate on Team Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg, and even played in a couple of events this season.

And what a career it’s been so far. Besides the Canadian junior title and world bronze medal he won as second for Team Matt Dunstone in 2016 in Copenhagen, he has played for some of the top guns in the sport. The list includes the likes of Dunstone, Jason Gunnlaugson, Pat Simmons, William Lyburn, Tanner Horgan, Colton Lott, and Karsten Sturmay. He also represented Canada as an alternate (played two games) for skip Brad Gushue’s team at the 2024 world championship in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and came home with a silver medal.

His list of opponents has been impressive as well, and includes some of the top skips in the world, including current world champion Bruce Mouat of Scotland.

At one point, Doering’s team was ranked 14th in the world.

For now, though, the focus is on the business side of the game. Doering, who earned a business degree at the University of Winnipeg, says there could be a long-term future in that aspect and wants to explore it further.

“I always liked business,” he says. “My family are entrepreneurs, so I was always interested in it. I never imagined I’d be in the business of curling. But I’ve always been around the game. I loved my old job at the Winnipeg Humane Society, but this one just fit.

“It’s been great. I’ve been really enjoying it. There’s been a lot of learning. It’s been a fun challenge.”

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