(980 CJME file photo)

By Shane Clausing, CKOM News Staff

Curl Sask squelches rumours of moving championships to curling rinks

Feb 6, 2023 | 11:47 AM

No changes are planned for Saskatchewan’s provincial curling championship bids.

While there has been some speculation about Curl Sask moving away from hosting tournaments in hockey rinks, the governing body says that won’t be happening.

When asked if there’s any truth to rumours the provincial championship could be moving out of hockey rinks and into curling rinks, Curl Sask’s Steve Turner said the organization is open to hosting provincials anywhere it can hold them.

“This is really nothing new. Last year we had one in a curling club and one in an arena,” he explained. “This isn’t all going one way or all going the other. Nothing has changed from our standpoint.”

Turner said a lot of where the governing body puts provincials and what location it uses depends on the bids it receives.

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“It’s a big job to host one of these events. We’re open to different options because this is a provincial championship and we want to showcase this around as much of the province as we possibly can,” said Turner.

“We’ve always had a combination of curling clubs and arenas and a variety of different host sites.”

While hockey rinks might be ideal for Curl Sask because it allows a lot more people to get in the building, Turner said that method isn’t always ideal for a lot of communities.

“Some of the challenges is cost and being able to secure an arena for a solid week and a half to nearly two weeks to host an event because hockey is a popular sport too,” he said.

“Those are things we’re all aware of, so we have an open and transparent bidding process and we’ve had numerous communities reach forward to put their bids in. Our criteria has stayed the same and no changes.”

Hosting rights for the 2024 events has not yet been decided.