Clubs looking ahead to fall and recreational curling in the new normal. BobWeeksTSN has MORE:
When it comes to timing, curling was pretty fortunate as far as the pandemic is concerned. Just as COVID-19 struck in major waves in March, the curling season was drawing to a close and clubs were shuttering for the summer.
Curling Canada has been hard at work trying to develop guidelines that will make the game safe for its hundreds of thousands of participants. Not long after last season ended, Lamoureux put together a group of club managers from across the country to discuss just how the sport could operate safely. He sought out the best practices and ideas on a series of regular calls.
“The feedback from the group has been exceptional,” said Lamoureux. “Every time we think we’ve talked about every possible situation someone will come up with something else. And every club will have its own needs based on the facility and the government rules in place.” “We are 100 per cent going to open in October,” said Jock Tyre, the manager of the Kelowna Curling Club, one of the country’s busiest clubs. “We’re going to make the best of it.”
There will also be arrows put into the ice to create a directional path for every player, as well as indicators telling them where to stand during idle times. As with Kelowna, Leaside is one of the busiest clubs in Canada, and most years it has waiting lists to join leagues. It is also one of the few rental facilities in Canada’s largest city, and it’s not uncommon for Liitela to get phone calls from curious Americans visiting the city who want to give curling a try.
Still, Leaside is facing some issues. The club relies a great deal on revenue from its bar as well as rental leagues. Neither of those look to be on the upswing for the coming season. Presently, regulations prohibit doubles tennis on courts owned by the city and, as Liitela pointed out, a doubles tennis court is 2,800 square feet while a sheet of curling ice is only 2,100.
So far, the response from curlers in St. John’s has been strong, he stated, and Walters expects to open on time in early October. A curling camp organized by world and Olympic champion Brad Gushue that was supposed to run in late September has been cancelled.
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