April 23, 2026
Playing the long game: How Haskayne student athlete is building a mindset that travels well beyond curling
On most days, Kenan Wipf is thinking one shot ahead.
It鈥檚 a habit the celebrated curler has built over years on the ice 鈥 reading angles, anticipating outcomes, adjusting for variables most people wouldn鈥檛 notice.
A current student at the Haskayne School of Business, Wipf led the University of 不良研究所 Dinos as skip to the and titles earlier this year. The accomplishments landed him a spot on the U Sports First Team All-Canadian, and a Canada West First Team All-Star for the 2025鈥26 season, including a spot to represent Canada at the 2027 FISU World University Games in Changchun, China
Most recently, he was recognized, alongside swimmer Alexanne Lepage, by Dinos Athletics as .
Yet for Wipf, the habits that have earned him success in competition don鈥檛 switch off when the broom is down. It鈥檚 also influenced how he鈥檚 shaping his path at Haskayne, and the way he is approaching his future in business.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Wipf to talk about what happens when 鈥渃hess on ice鈥 thinking meets a business career. Here鈥檚 what he shared:
On leadership and team dynamics 鈥
鈥淚t comes down to a team culture of knowing it's OK to make a mistake. The last thing you want is someone burning a stone or throwing it through the house and walking away feeling like they鈥檝e let their team down. It鈥檚 the same in the business world. It鈥檚 about making sure people are aligned on expectations, but supported when things don鈥檛 go perfectly.鈥
On strategic 鈥榠ce reading鈥 鈥
"It's forecasting what you think is going to happen. While one move in curling might make your life easier in the short term, what about a couple shots later? In business, it's about finding different ways to make every decision work together as opposed to working individually and doing stuff that might help now but harm tomorrow.鈥
On precision and micro-adjustments 鈥
鈥淗aving a target in mind is the biggest piece of that. Whether it鈥檚 a project or a goal or a vision, there鈥檚 a reason you have it 鈥揳nd it鈥檚 not to get 95 per cent of the way there. So, it鈥檚 about finding the intensity, the passion and clarity of the purpose to get through that last five per cent.鈥
On managing the 'House' ...
鈥淚n curling, we have this term called the 鈥榖ail point.鈥 At some point in the game, you have a point where you have to decide whether to keep moving forward as is, or 鈥榮weep the shed鈥 鈥 that is, clear the rocks before it gets out of hand. That鈥檚 very applicable to something like financial planning or organizational restructuring where people and businesses need to take the time to stop and re-evaluate whether this is where they want to be. And if it鈥檚 not, then they need to make a change.
鈥淵ou only have a limited number of stones and you only have a limited number of things you can do before you reach the 鈥榚nd.鈥 It's constantly having those re-evaluation points.鈥
On data vs. intuition ...
鈥淚 think data gets you so far, especially in curling. Maybe 80 per cent. The last 20 is gut instinct, or what could be labelled as emotion. In business, it鈥檚 very similar. Sometimes the issues aren鈥檛 mathematical; you might have a supplier who鈥檚 good at what they do, but just hard to work with. So, maybe the decision is about reducing friction by finding someone who makes the whole system easier.鈥
Related content
