Who are the teams at the European Curling Championships?

Curling 14 Nov 24

Brushes at the ready, it's everyone's favourite time of year again.

The men's and women's European Curling Championships 2024 kick from 16-23 November, and Team GB fans will have three teams to keep their eyes on.

The event will be held at the Kisakallio Sports Institute in Lohja, Finland with England men and Scotland men taking to the rink alongside Scotland women.

The Europeans double up as a qualifying event for this season’s World Championships, which in turn correspond as the last chance to pre-qualify Team GB for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

So let's meet the teams returning to the ice in Finland.

Scotland Men

Scotland Men will look to keep their 100% record clean as they head to Finland to defend their European title. The Beijing 2022 silver medallists have won the continental crown all four times they have been to the championships since their first attempt in 2018.

Bruce Mouat will once again lead the team consisting of Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan while Kyle Waddell will travel as their alternate.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS@TeamMouat roar to an incredible fourth European title on home soil

2018 🥇 2021 🥇 2022 🥇 2023 🥇pic.twitter.com/zicvsCUzho
— Team GB (@TeamGB) November 25, 2023

Skip Mouat was the first person to represent Team GB in both the men’s and mixed doubles curling when he skipped his way to Olympic silver in Beijing. Mouat was part of the World Championship winning team in Ottawa in 2023, as well as the four time European Champion.

Hardie is Mouat’s second in command and whilst he had no family in the game before him, Hardie’s family is now full of curlers, past and present. With his cousins Hammy McMillan Jr and Bobby Lammie joining him once again at the European Championships. Lammie was only 21 when he was part of the rink’s first European gold in 2018 in Estonia whilst McMillan could equal his father, Hammy McMillan Senior's European championship record of five golds if Scotland retain their title in Finland.

England Men

England will make their first European Championships A-Division appearance in five years when they take to the ice in Finland. The side qualified for the top flight after clinching victory at last year's B-Division event. The team consists of Rob Retchless, Jotham Sugden, Scott Gibson and Jonathan Havercroft.

Retchless has been curling for 30 years after being introduced to the sport by his parents when he was young. An enjoyer of hiking, karaoke and travelling, the software engineering director will look to lead his team of experience and youth well in Finland.

Gibson and Havercroft boast over 50 years of curling experience between them whilst Sugden, on the other hand, only has ten. But with 43 junior caps and six junior titles to his name, it's evident the youngster packs a punch on the rink.

This is where it gets fun. The alternate for Team Retchless is Colin Mouat. No, that isn’t a typo. Mouat is the second member of the Mouat family travelling to the European Championships. The older brother of Scotland’s skip Bruce, the siblings will come head-to-head on 17th November in the round robin stage of the tournament.

Scotland Women

Team Morrison will represent Scotland once more after winning European bronze in 2022. The rink of Rebecca Morrison, Jennifer Dodds, Sophie Sinclair and Sophie Jackson, alongside alternate Fay Henderson, will look to better their fifth place finish from last season, with a year’s more experience under their belts.

Morrison has had big shoes to fill as skip in the past two years following Eve Muirhead's retirement from curling, but has already led her team to a major medal.

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However, Morrison has the experience of Beijing 2022 gold medallist Jennifer Dodds on her side in Finland. As part of Team Muirhead, Dodds stormed to Olympic gold two years ago, appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to curling.

Sophie Sinclair used to be a competitive equestrian, performing in both eventing and show jumping, before turning her attention to curling, whilst Sophie Jackson was part of the bronze winning European Championship team in 2022.