Curling preparing to slide out of the hack again this fall

Like many curlers in Saskatchewan, Ashley Howard can't wait to get back on the ice after the season was cut short in March because of the pandemic.

"It's been awful. I still remember throwing my last rocks in March," Howard, who is executive director of CurlSask, told Saskatchewan Morning host Peter Mills.

She and her fianc were on vacation in Ontario throwing rocks in the small town of Midland.

"The ice maker came out and said to us, 'The women's worlds have been cancelled.'

"And I said to my fianc, we better keep throwing because we just might not have this opportunity to throw again. And it was true. By the time we got home to Saskatchewan, our rinks had shut down, our events were cancelled."

Time to prepare for fall

But now CurlSask has a plan in place for curling clubs to reopen this fall.

"Looking back, and comparing ourselves to other sports, we've really been almost fortunate in the timing," Howard said. "We lost a little bit of the end of our season, but we've had this entire off season to get ready to think about our game and think about our return."

The Sutherland Curling Club in Saskatoon will open first in September and will be used as a test site.

"They're going to be our high performance centre," Howard said. "We have the opportunity to send our teams and learn from those experiences of our competitive teams or those local to Saskatoon and see how curling works in the real world."

They will start with a few mini competitions to work out all of the COVID-19 protocols and make sure other clubs can open in a safe manner.

The guidelines will include physical distancing, contact tracing in the event of an outbreak, implementing safety measuresand enhanced cleaning protocols. CurlSask will also follow the gathering size guidelines recommended by the Saskatchewan Health Authority for the duration of the 2020-2021 season.

"We can practice our cleaning protocols. And then from there ... we can share our best practices with other clubs and we'll go through the learning curve so all of our local or smaller rinks don't have to do that themselves."

Backbone of many communities

Howard said curling rinks are the backbone of many Saskatchewan communities and need to be able to reopen safely.

"We need to find a way that you'll be successful and sustainable for a long time," she said.

"These are small, not-for-profit businesses. They are the cornerstone of your community. So if you're able continue to donate your time, maybe even donate cleaning supplies or help out financially or volunteer your time, just continue to be a part of curling clubs and make sure that their success is sustained for a number of years."

Because of the risk of international or even inter-provincial travel, Howard said they are focusing on encouraging in-province types of competition.

Those events won't be large, but she said it is important to have those opportunities and continue to support the growth of competitive curlers.

Howard said they did a survey with their members and 90 per cent of the respondents said they were willing to come back and curl this eason.

And she said with many other activities being cancelled, there is an opportunity for curling to grow.

"Snowbirds might not be heading south and maybe they'll continue to curl a little bit longer. Those families that have had cancellations in their activities for the past five months might be looking to get back into the sport again," she said.

"Or even university students that are staying at home in their small town, doing their courses online as opposed to going into the city. They might have a little bit of extra time to curl and support the local rinks as well. So you know, we're really hoping for a strong season and welcoming even new members into our curling community."