Ice sports are fundamental to Canadian identity. Even those of us who don’t play are brought up in a culture suffused with the good-natured national obsession. Of course, sport culture as a whole can often be a home for the toxic machismo and hyper-hetero dudebro sensibility that makes locker rooms unwelcoming for queer people.

Enter Edmonton’s Curling with Pride. Founded in 1997 with only four teams, this organization stands for the ideal that GSM people should be able to engage with our national identity without fear of discrimination. The league has grown, since its inception, to 18 teams, and is this year’s host of the Canadian Gay Curling Championships.

That growth was certainly top-of-mind when I spoke with James Fox, president of Curling with Pride for the past four years. When asked what he felt were the league’s most noteworthy accomplishments during his tenure, he told me; "I think watching the league grow. The first year that I was president, we had eight teams. This year we have eighteen teems, so we’ve more than doubled in size in the last four years."

Any new venture has its share of difficulties, but all the more so when breaking into the aggressively hetero world of sport. Though it was before his time involved with the league, Fox was privy to some of Curling with Pride’s early struggles. "I know some of what happened," he told me, "but nothing I’d want you to quote me on. Something you can quote me on, though, is that we did change curling clubs twice because of discrimination."

Fox and his cohort, however, are all about the games. The otherwise soft-spoken man positively lit up when we began speaking about the upcoming Canadian Gay Curling Championships, hosted by Curling with Pride in the first week of April. It’s a testament to how far this league has come that it will be hosting Edmonton City Councillor Amarjeet Sohi and Member of Parliament Linda Duncan during the opening ceremonies of the tourney. And in tribute to the Scottish origin of the game, Fox enthused; "We’re also being piped onto the ice by the Edmonton Police Service Pipes and Drums. We’ve received lots of support from the RCMP and local police service and from our local politicians."

Fox also provided some good news for any Canadian sports fan who’s watched the iconic presentation of the Stanley Cup or the Grey Cup, or any Canadian athlete who’s ever dreamed of having a trophy brought out to them. "In the closing ceremonies, we have two EPS officers and two RCMP Sergeants coming in dress uniform and the white gloves to carry our trophies for the final presentation."

If Curling with Pride had difficulties in its early years, more recent seasons have been marked by noteworthy support. The league has been the beneficiary of an affluent home province with a nurturing (if not entirely copacetic) relationship to amateur sport. "Last year, from the Alberta Lottery Fund Community Initiative Program, we received a $10,000 travelling grant to go to the 2013 Canadian Gay Curling Championship in Halifax," Fox says. "On a whim I applied for it, and we were totally shocked when we received it – we sent two teams to Halifax. And the same program has a fund for hosting events. So I applied, never really thinking we’d get it, and one day I got a call from the secretary of MLA Matt Jeneroux, asking if they could set up a presentation! He came to our club and gave us a cheque for $20,000 to host our two bonspiels."

And now I must apologise for disappointing those readers with a particular attachment to the "overcoming adversity" narrative: Fox has nothing but glowing words for the professionalism and support he has experienced from government officials. "We never had any problems. We got a personal letter from Minister Klimchuk congratulating us and wishing us the best of luck. From our end it was a positive experience."

As for the tournament itself? "Watch out for Edmonton 1 and Edmonton 2," Fox confides. "And of course, you can’t discount Vancouver 1 or Vancouver 2. I think those are the four teams to watch out for." All that’s left is to play the games, and keep an eye out for those moments that every athlete lives for. A player himself, Fox is all too familiar with the highs and lows of the sport. "Everybody will have their own shot that they remember making," he confided, "even if the rest of their team remembers it differently!"

Curling with Pride hosts the Canadian Gay Curling Championships concurrently with their own Icebreaker Bonspiel. Both events run from the 3rd to the 6th of April. For more information visit their website.