The best men’s and women’s curling teams in Saskatchewan will be coming to Estevan to compete in provincial tournaments in 2021.
The Estevan Curling Club announced on Friday that it will be hosting the CurlSask Viterra Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s curling competition and the SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial tournament at Affinity Place from Jan. 29-Feb. 7 next year.
The tournaments will be hosted back to back, with the Scotties from Jan. 29-Feb. 2, and the Tankard from Feb. 3-7. A break will occur between the final of the Scotties and the start of the Tankard to make adjustments inside Affinity Place.
Twelve teams will be entered in each event for a triple-knockout elimination draw before provincials begin.
Ashley Howard, the executive director for CurlSask, said this was an exciting announcement for Estevan and for the future of the sport in the city.
“We’re so excited to be coming back to the community of Estevan,” said Howard.
Howard said Estevan put forward a fantastic bid that was highlighted by the use of Affinity Place.
Estevan is no stranger to hosting top curling events. The 2018 Tankard and the 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup were both at Affinity Place. The latter event brought many of the country’s top men’s and women’s curling teams to the Energy City.
“We know a lot of hard work goes into planning a successful event, and CurlSask is confident in the host’s abilities in Estevan, as proven by your last championships,” said Howard. “We look forward to watching you build on those successes.”
She noted that she has a photo from the Canada Cup in Estevan on her fridge.
“I thought ‘It’s not fair that the men get to play on this ice and the women didn’t,’ and I thought ‘Wait a minute, we can change that,’ and as a player, I would just be so excited have an opportunity to play in this building,” said Howard, who qualified for provincials this year and will be trying to qualify for the tournament in 2021.
This will also mark the second time in which the two showcase events for CurlSask will be held back-to-back in the same venue. It is happening for the first time in Melville, starting later this month.
“It’s really about economics and efficiency and bringing one event in, setting it up and making it look amazing in here, and doing the whole meal deal, and just doing it once, but allowing more teams to be exposed to the event,” said Howard.
It means more outstanding teams for fans to watch, with 24 instead of 12, and there are more opportunities for school kids to come and see the event. School students are often a big part of the crowd for the draws on weekdays.
“It makes a lot of sense for us to do the one arena install, only kick out one great hockey team from their venue, which we really appreciate, and we’re just excited to make it big and exciting for the players,” said Howard.
Tyler McMillen, who is the chairperson for the event committee, noted that each year the curling club considers and reviews possible CurlSask events to host.
“The chance at hosting events for our club is great for our community and great for our club, and with the direction of the board and Pauline Ziehl Grimsrud, the manager of the club, we submitted a bid … to CurlSask,” said McMillen.
The club kept in mind that the Estevan Bruins and the City of Estevan would be hosting the 2022 Centennial Cup presented by Tim Hortons, which is the national junior A hockey championship, and they didn’t want to have the two provincial events the same year as hockey nationals.
“We put the bid in, the city was on board, and we were lucky enough to win that bid,” said McMillen.
Hosting two events instead of one will create some unique challenges, thanks to the the timeframe of the provincials. More volunteers will be needed. They will also meet with local businesses to step forward with sponsorships.
“We’re going to meet as a committee right away and come up with our strategic plan, but the big thing is our fundraising, and then people when it comes time to have the volunteers sign up,” said McMillen.
The local committee will travel to Melville for their provincial event to see what they do, and the club will lean on CurlSask for their support.
Hosting marquee events has generated more interest for the sport in Estevan, particularly young people.
“We’re seeing different young people come in and sign up whose parents have never been around it,” said McMillen. “It’s unique where they’re learning right from scratch instead of coming in from those farm families that have grown up around it.”
The Tankard and the Canada Cup also brought a considerable economic spinoff to the community, thanks to the curlers, the officials and others who were in the Energy City.
Devon Fornwald, who is the president of the Estevan Curling Club, said the club is looking forward to hosting the events.
“I know we’re going to do a good job. We have some great volunteers out there, and some great people on our executive to help out.”
Mayor Roy Ludwig said this is a great event for the curling community and the city as a whole.
“We have lots of experience behind us, and with all of the great volunteers … we know that everyone will come to the table and do a fantastic job,” said Ludwig.
