By Jeff D'Andrea

P.A. announced as hosts for the Canadian Curling Juniors

Nov 17, 2017 | 4:00 PM

Friday’s announcement was a “17-year dream” for Bryan Rindal and the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club.

The 2019 New Holland Canadian Junior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships will be hosted in Prince Albert Jan. 19-27 at both the Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club and the Art Hauser Centre.

Rindal, the host committee chair, said he and the rest of the committee have been vying for a national event like this since 2000.

Landing the national junior tournament is great for curling in the area Rindal said, as well as the City of Prince Albert itself. But even more important than that, Rindal said being able to host a national event like helps the club to stay afloat financially.

“We need to run these events. Fifty years ago when this club was built, nobody would have ever imagined the infrastructure costs, the lighting costs, all the power. It costs a lot just to keep the lights on,” Rindal said. “We need these events just to fill up the coffers to keep providing the services, the competition and the ice surface itself that we do. It’s huge for the city of P.A., but it’s also huge for the golf and curling club.”

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Two years ago, the club hosted the 2016 Viterra Saskatchewan Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Rindal said the club raised $80,000 from the event and hopes for double.

Scott Comfort of the Curling Canada Board of Governors said Prince Albert would be a perfect spot for the event, especially with their experience in hosting the Sask Scotties and other provincial tournaments.

“They put in a nice bid, they got great volunteers they have a proven track record of hosting a lot of provincial events, so we know they’re ready to take on the next step with a big national event here,” Comfort said. “It’s going to be an excellent time for everybody.”

The 2019 New Holland Canadian Junior Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships will be in Prince Albert Jan. 19-27 pic.twitter.com/GWF1ZQt4v0

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) November 17, 2017

This isn’t the first time Prince Albert has been the host venue for the Canadian Juniors. The tournament was held in P.A. in 1987, which also happened to be the first year the Junior Men’s and Women’s tournaments were combined into one event.

“I was only seven at the time, so I don’t remember a lot of that,” Comfort said. “We always go to places where we’ve had proven records before, and [Prince Albert] has had some excellent events held here. I know in 2019, it’s going to be a well-run event.”

Canadian curling icons Cheryl Bernard and Russ Howard talked about curling. Both are in town for Bernard’s School of Rocks curling camp, held on Saturday at the Golf and Curling Club.

There will be a total of 28 teams participating in the event, 14 of each gender. TSN will provide live coverage of the semifinals and finals of the event.

Saskatchewan has won 14 national junior tournaments, second behind only Alberta. Saskatchewan swept the 2011 juniors, with Braeden Moskowy and Trish Paulsen winning the event—the latest Saskatchewan victories at the event.

The winners from the P.A. event will move on to represent the country at the 2017 World Junior Championships, Feb. 17-24 in Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW