A relatively new recreational activity that has proven to be popular elsewhere in Canada is coming to Estevan.
An ice sheet is under construction at the Estevan Leisure Centre’s forecourt for crokicurl, which combines the game of crokinole with the sport of curling. Rod March, the parks and facilities manager for the city of Estevan, is optimistic that the ice could be ready by Jan. 18, but he would hope to have it in by Jan. 21 at the latest.
“It’s something new and exciting to do with all of the interest in curling that we had this year at Affinity Place,” said March. “We thought it was a great opportunity to pick up the new sport of crokicurl.”
The game started in Winnipeg a couple of years ago and proved to be popular with people of all ages. It has since spread to other communities. The city thought it was a great opportunity to have it outside of Affinity Place.
“I’ve seen a lot of other communities are setting it up, and reality is it’s really straightforward to set up once you get the materials in place,” said March.
Using a large ice surface, players will slide junior-sized curling rocks that are about 20-25 pounds each, and try to get the rocks to the button, just like in curling. But there are some obstacles along the way, like in crokinole.
Points are awarded based on the results.
“The objective is to get your rock into the button, or knock your opponent’s rock out of the way, so you can get into the button. So you can have either teams of two or four playing it … and we have all the rules and everything laminated and posted and ready to go,” said March.
With colder temperatures settling in for southeast Saskatchewan this week, March said it was the perfect opportunity to start building the crokicurl ice. He hopes the ice will be ready in a few days to start playing.
“We’re happy to have the fire department assist us with flooding it right now,” said March.
They would still have to paint the ice and the lines before it could be ready. March said it was important to keep an eye on the ice, because this is the first time they have done a crokicurl ice surface.
The ice will be pebbled, just like in curling.
The forecourt at the leisure centre also poses challenges, because the concrete isn’t level.
“The water has to seek its own level, which means we’re pouring about an inch of water on one side, while there’s zero (water) on the other side. Once we get about two inches of water in there, then we can get the circles painted, and get everything in place.”
When the sun comes to the west side of the building, it melts the ice a little bit in the afternoon.
“It will be fine, it’s just that you can’t rush it, or otherwise with the uneven surface, it’s going to flush out whatever ice that you build.”
But it makes for a good use of the courtyard during the winter months, because the courtyard isn’t used very often during the winter months.
People who want to play crokicurl can sign out a key at the leisure centre’s information desk, and there will be a lock box by the door with the rocks. People will sign out a key to the lock box for an hour.
“If it becomes really popular, we might have to have people schedule the times, so we’ll do it in one-hour or hour and a half increments.”
There isn’t a fee to play crokicurl, but March asks that people to respect the equipment, so that the rocks can be used year after year. And people are asked to be cautious, since they’re playing on ice.
