With the ice going in following the local exhibition, it’ll soon be time to throw a rock or two for curling season.
The Comox Valley Curling Club is beginning its season in September with some clinics planned, as well as league play.
“We’ll be ready to roll somewhere around Sept. 16,” says manager Keith Parry.
One bit of big news for the club is that it will play host to the top young curlers in the province in early 2022. The BC Junior Curling Championships will come to town the last week of January.
“I anticipate we’ll have a lot of teams,” he says.
As it is one of the biggest events on the provincial curling calendar, Parry expects it will bring many people to the area, and the event will need a lot of people to help. The club has put out the word about the need for volunteers and officials.
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Regular leagues will also be running soon, and the schedule will be adjusted to take into account the one week for the provincials, as Parry says the teams do not want to lose any of their season. In this case, they will open the season a bit early to make up for the scheduling changes.
The club is also offering the Gladstone five-week league again, for people who might be on time constraints and cannot commit to a long season or for players who are learning the sport.
“There’s 10-year-olds in that league, and there’s 90-year-olds in that league,” he says
Speaking of the latter, the club is also planning clinics in the days ahead. It will host a two-night learn-to-curl clinic on Sept. 16 and 17 in the evening, to give people the chance to try their hand at the sport. It is also hosting a stick curling workshop on the afternoon of Sept. 17.
In the meantime, the other “elephant in the room,” as Parry says, is the situation around COVID-19. After the Aug. 24 provincial health officer announcements on requirements for indoor activities, he clarified that vaccination proof is mandatory to get in the building and current mask restrictions mean masks in the building, but these can be removed for game play or while seated to eat or drink. He expects the mask mandate could be loosened once the proof of vaccination takes effect.
For more information on the club, see https://comoxvalleycurling.com/
mike.chouinard@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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