Joseph Mark Frans (born July 1, 1975 in

Grimsby, Ontario Grimsby is a town on Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Grimsby is at the eastern end of the Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada, Census Met ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

curler from

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Frans is most notable for being a two-time provincial champion and for being suspended from competitive curling for

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

usage.

Career

Frans obtained fame as a curler in 1991, when he won the provincial school boys championship and the provincial junior mixed championship while curling in

Smiths Falls, Ontario Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of Ottawa. As of the 2021 Canadian census, 2021 census it has a population of 9,254. It is in the Census division for Lanark County, but is administratively separated from the county. ...

. In 1993, Frans won the provincial junior championship while playing in

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

. At the 1993 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, his team would finish with a 6-5 record. In 1994, while a grade 13 student at St. Catharines' Merritton High School, Frans would win a second straight provincial championship, this time with a rink from

Bradford, Ontario Bradford is the primary country urban area of the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario, in Canada. It overlooks a farming community, known as The Holland Marsh, located on the Holland River that flows into Lake Simcoe. History The east ...

. At the 1994 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, he skipped the Ontario team to a 4th place finish (7-4 record), just out of the playoffs. Frans later joined up with another provincial junior champion, John Morris, playing as his vice. The team played in the 2001

Canadian Olympic Curling Trials The Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, marketed from 2009 through 2017 as the Roar of the Rings, are a quadrennial tournament held by Curling Canada that determines the Canadian men's and women's representatives for curling at the Winter Olympics. Th ...

, finishing with a 5-4 record. The following year, they won a provincial men's championship. At the

2002 Nokia Brier The 2002 Nokia Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship, was held from March 9 to 17 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. It was won by the Albertan foursome headed by Randy Ferbey. Ferbey threw third stones throughout the tou ...

, the team lost in the final to

Randy Ferbey Randy S. Ferbey (born May 30, 1959) is a Canadian retired curler from Sherwood Park, Alberta. Ferbey is a six-time Canadian champion and a four-time World Champion. He recently coached the Rachel Homan women's team. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, ...

's Alberta rink. The following year, the team lost to Ferbey once again in the

Canada Cup The Canada Cup () was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world championship that a ...

final. Morris left Ontario following that season, and Frans joined up with

Wayne Middaugh Robert Wayne Middaugh (born September 20, 1967) is a Canadian curler. Born in Brampton, Ontario, Middaugh resides in Victoria Harbour, Ontario. He is the only player to have won the Canadian Men's Curling Championship (known as the Brier) at th ...

, playing as his second. The team won the 2005 provincial championship, qualifying them for the

2005 Tim Hortons Brier The 2005 Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadians, Canadian men's curling championship, was held at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta from March 5 to 13. The tournament consisted of 12 teams, one from each province, plus a team representing the Yukon and ...

. It was at the 2005 Brier, that Frans was randomly selected to have his urine tested. After the Brier, it was announced that Frans had tested positive for cocaine, which Frans denies using. Nonetheless, Frans was banned from competitive curling for two years. It was the first positive drug test in curling history. At the 2005 Brier, the team finished with a 6-5 record. Frans curled 81%, fourth among seconds. Frans would return in 2007, skipping his own team. The 2007

John Shea Insurance Canada Cup Qualifier The John Shea Insurance Canada Cup Qualifier was an annual curling bonspiel held at the Ottawa and Rideau Curling Clubs in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In odd years, the event was a qualifier for the men's Canada Cup of Curling while in even years the ...

being one of his first major events. In 2009, Frans qualified for the 2009 provincial championship, where he and his rink lost in the semi-final to

Peter Corner Peter J. Corner2017 Brier Media Guide: Previous Rosters (born May 20, 1968 in Brampton, Ontario) is a Canadian curler from Burlington, Ontario. Career Corner was a member of the 1993 "dream team" of his cousin Wayne Middaugh and the brothers o ...

. He qualified again in 2010 and finished with a 6-4 record. In 2011, he joined the Corner rink and played second. For the

2012–13 curling season The 2012–13 curling season began at the end of August 2012 and ended in April 2013. ''Note: In events with two genders, the men's tournament winners is listed before the women's tournament winners.'' CCA-sanctioned events This section lists ev ...

, Frans returned to skipping. He replaced

Dale Matchett Dale Matchett (born September 1, 1975 in Newmarket, Ontario) is a Canadians, Canadian curling, curler from Alliston, Ontario. Matchett is a former provincial junior curling champion and a regular on the World Curling Tour. Career Junior career I ...

, who skipped the team of Ryan Werenich (son of the legendary Ed Werenich), Jeff Gorda and Shawn Kaufman since the fall of 2005. Matchett retired from competitive play.

References

External links

*
Ontario Curling Tour Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frans, Joe Curlers from Ontario 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Grimsby, Ontario People from Smiths Falls Sportspeople from Lanark County Sportspeople from Huron County, Ontario People from the Regional Municipality of Halton Sportspeople from Guelph Doping cases in curling Canadian male curlers Canadian sportspeople in doping cases Canada Cup (curling) participants 20th-century Canadian sportsmen 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Sportspeople from St. Catharines