Nolan Thiessen (born November 6, 1980, in Pilot Mound,

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

) 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 ...

retired curler and sports executive. He is currently the CEO of

Curling Canada Curling Canada (formerly the Canadian Curling Association (CCA)) is a sanctioning body for the sport of curling in Canada. It is associated with more than a dozen provincial and territorial curling associations across the country, and organizes ...

Career

Thiessen, in his debut at Canadian Juniors, lost the final of the

2001 Canadian Junior Curling Championships The 2001 Kärcher Canadian Junior Curling Championships were held February 3–11 at the St. Catharines Golf & Country Club in St. Catharines, Ontario. The winning teams represented Canada at the 2001 World Junior Curling Championships. Men's Teams ...

playing lead for Mike McEwen. Thiessen was a member of the

2003 Winter Universiade The 2003 Winter Universiade, the XXI Winter Universiade, took place in Tarvisio, Italy. Total 1,266 athletes from 41 countries performed. Venues Tarvisio * Alpine skiing * Cross-country skiing * Nordic combined * Ski jumping Other venues ...

championship team. He represented

Brandon University Brandon University is a university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, with an enrolment of approximately 3,375 (2020) full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, ...

, playing lead for Mike McEwen. After university, he played lead for Sean Grassie before moving to play in Alberta as Mark Johnson's lead in 2004. In 2006, he moved to play for

Kevin Koe Kevin Koe ( ; born January 11, 1975) is a Canadian curling, curler. Koe is a two-time World champion and four-time Canadian champion. He was the skip (curling), skip of the Canadian men's team at the Curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics - Men's to ...

. Thiessen won the 2008 Canada Cup of Curling with the team, and qualified for his first Brier in 2010 as Team Alberta. The team won the Brier after beating Ontario's

Glenn Howard Glenn William Howard (born July 17, 1962) is a retired Canadian curler who is one of the most decorated curlers of all time. He has won four world championships, four Briers and 17 Ontario provincial championships, including a record eight s ...

6-5 in the final. They went on to win at that year's

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, securing the gold medal in a win over Norway, skipped by

Torger Nergård Torger Nergård, also spelled Nergaard (born 12 December 1974) is a Norwegian curler from Oslo."Torger Nergaard, Curling" (Curling > Athletes). Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Retrieved 12 Februar ...

. After Pat Simmons signed on with the team, they went to their second Brier in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, but lost to Ontario, skipped by

, in the final. At the 2014 Brier the rink repeated as Canadian champions, defeating John Morris's B.C. rink 10-5 in the final. The team went on to finish in fourth place at the

2014 World Men's Curling Championship The 2014 World Men's Curling Championship was held from March 29 to April 6 at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China. Norway's Thomas Ulsrud defeated Sweden's Oskar Eriksson in the final with a score of 8–3, securing his first world titl ...

. After the season, Koe left the team and was replaced by John Morris. The team represented Team Canada at the

2015 Tim Hortons Brier The 2015 Tim Hortons Brier was held from February 28 to March 8 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In the final, the team of Pat Simmons (curler), Pat Simmons, John Morris (curler), John Morris, Carter Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen ...

as defending champions. They won the 2015 Brier and went on to win a bronze medal at the

2015 Ford World Men's Curling Championship The 2015 World Men's Curling Championship (branded as Ford World Men's Curling Championship 2015 for sponsorship reasons) was held from March 28 to April 5 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It marked the first time that ...

. The team represented Team Canada at the

2016 Tim Hortons Brier The 2016 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 5–13, 2016 at TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ontario. It is the fourth time the Brier has been held in Ottawa, and the fifth time the Brier has been held i ...

for the final time, finishing in fifth place. They went their separate ways after the season, and Thiessen retired from competitive curling. Thiessen was formally hired by

in 2018, eventually becoming the Executive Director of Marketing and Fan Experience. He was appointed CEO of Curling Canada in January 2024.

Personal life

Thiessen enjoyed playing baseball growing up. He played for the Claiborne Christian High School in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

and played one year at

Vernon College Vernon College is a public community college in Vernon, Texas. History The two-year Vernon Regional Junior College welcomed its first student body of 608 in 1972, and had a board of trustees of seven members. In 1970, the Wilbarger County voter ...

in Texas, which led to his participation in a regional tournament for the junior College World Series. He also played baseball at the 2001 Canada Summer Games for Team Manitoba. After playing baseball in Texas, Thiessen returned to Manitoba and finished his education at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

, and worked as a self-employed chartered accountant. As of 2016, he is married to Christine Sinclair (not the soccer player) and has three children That year, he moved with his wife to

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas, United States. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about ...

, where she found work. They sold their home in Texas in 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thiessen, Nolan 1980 births Living people Brier champions Curlers from Alberta Curlers from Brandon, Manitoba World curling champions People from Spruce Grove Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian baseball players Canadian accountants Sportspeople from McKinney, Texas Canadian male curlers Winter World University Games medalists in curling Continental Cup of Curling participants FISU World University Games gold medalists for Canada Medalists at the 2003 Winter Universiade Canada Cup (curling) participants Canadian chief executives Canadian sports executives and administrators Chief executives in the sports industry University of Manitoba alumni Curling Canada chief executive officers 21st-century Canadian sportsmen