The Selkirk and District Curling Club finally held its Registration Night for the 2020-21 season on Sept. 17, but organizers are still hoping to draw more curlers back into its house.
“We currently operate five leagues — Tuesday Men’s, Wednesday Women’s, Thursday Men’s, Friday Mixed/Open and Saturday Juniors,” Kathleen McCallum, the club’s past-president, wrote in an email. “All leagues except for Wednesday Women’s — which has the same number of teams as last year — are slightly down. I am not sure if this is due directly to concerns over COVID-19. Generally, we have fewer registered teams on Registration Night than will be curling for the year. We still take registration up to the first nights of league play and beyond.”
The season starts Oct. 13, with all sorts of pandemic protocols swept into place.
“What was a little different this year, due to the pandemic, was not knowing if we would be able to open and what it would look like if we did!” McCallum wrote. “Our executive undertook a review of the practices of neighbouring clubs, and we relied heavily on the guidelines developed by Curling Canada and CurlManitoba. Due to the uncertainty of a new season, we did not advertise the AGM and Registration Night as we have done in the past, so our lower numbers at this point might be (due) to this.
“We are in the process of contacting former curlers and looking for ways to let people know we have room for more teams in most of our leagues. And we have prepared protocols for our facility, both canteen area and lounge, as well as on ice play, that make the safety and health of our members, staff and visitors our Number 1 priority. For example, face masks will be mandatory to enter, and move around the building.”
Those protocols include specific markings on the ice for where curlers are supposed to stay when not sweeping, including the skip.
“Our icemaker (Dale Lott) will be using CurlManitoba guidelines to mark out areas on the ice for non-throwing teams to stand, and rocks will be placed in single file,” McCallum said. “We will have sanitizing wipes so that teams can wipe down their own rocks before and after the games, as well as for other high-touch areas.
“We feel fortunate to open our doors this year and we do not want to do anything that will jeopardize the season, or jeopardize the health and safety of our members, visitors and staff. We know there will be a learning curve to some of the new protocols. But, with some patience and flexibility, we are confident that curling can be a safe and welcome winter activity option for community members of all ages!”
Tom Matheson was elected the club’s new president.
