Many of us know Ryan Parent as the Programmer Analyst who works on our EDI IT Team. Some of us are also aware that he does a bit of curling on the side. Ask Ryan and he’ll tell you curling isn’t just a bit of recreation for him—it’s about community, dedication and a dream to win.
Ryan’s team has been ranked in the top 100 on the World Curling Tour continuously over the last four years, with a peak end-of-year ranking of 73rd in 2024 and a goal this year of breaking into the top 50. To date, Ryan has won four World Curling Tour Bonspiels and a silver medal from the 2025 Alberta Mixed Doubles Provincials, with four Alberta provincial men’s appearances in 2019 (Juniors), 2022, 2024 and 2025. Another couple of short-term goals for the team include 1) pre-qualifying for Provincials in Alberta and 2) ranking as one of the top four teams at Provincials. A long-term goal for the team is to represent Alberta in the Brier, the pinnacle of Canadian men’s curling. The winner of the Brier goes on to represent Canada at the World Curling Championships. As a sponsor of Ryan’s team, EDI’s logo has a prominent place on team jackets. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see Ryan’s team and our logo at the Brier or the World Championships?!
Ryan’s team this year includes Ethan Drysdale as Lead, Ben Savage as Second, Jared Jenkins as Third, and Ryan as Skip. The coach is Jared’s mother, Sandra Jenkins, who helped her team, and Canada, win a bronze medal in curling during the 2006 Olympics. Ryan explains that communication among team members is critically important in curling and the curling community is quite tight knit, with members of most provincial teams knowing each other.
In addition to his job at EDI, Ryan trains or curls five or six times a week. That’s dedication! Each year, he gains more experience and is now at the level where he gets to sharpen his skills against top-notch players in Canada, such as Kevin Koe, Matt Dunstone, Brendan Bottcher, John Epping, and Mike McEwen, and international teams from the United States, Norway, Scotland, The Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand and China.
If you would like to follow the accomplishments of Ryan’s team over the 2025/2026 season, tune into their Instagram account at: https://www.instagram.com/teamparentcurling/