The Humboldt Curling Club is looking a little different this year.
Manager Kevin Kalthoff has implemented a new type of house on the ice this year. He reached out for sponsors and contacted a company in Ontario to design new houses incorporating the sponsors' logos. Kalthoff said that getting all the sponsors to approve the designs was a bit of a process, but it worked out in the end.
"It was a lot of give and take," he said.
The main reason for getting the new houses was for ease of installing and upkeep. Before, cleaning and painting the houses could take a day with 10 people working on it. With the new houses, all they have to do is pull them off, dry them, store them, and use them again the next season. This new method takes an hour and a half with three people. They're more expensive, but the sponsors pay for it and it's easy to go through the process again if sponsors change.
He got the idea for the houses when he saw a similar concept in Wadena while he was helping to resurface their rocks.
"It looks like the right thing to do and it's going to be a lot easier for us," he said.
As with other years, there are a host of different leagues to choose from. The fun league is for people who don't want to compete and just want to - obviously - have fun. Kalthoff said that the league has grown this year from 16 teams to start to 20 teams right off the bat.
"That's really nice," he said. "I think people just want to come out one night a week, have a sociable before the game and one after and go home. Get a little bit of exercise." He added that the league doesn't have standings and has less of an emphasis on winning.
"It looks like the onus on winning is going away with some of the people. They just want to have a good time," he said.
Other leagues include the seniors' league, seniors' cash league, ladies cash league, men's league, an instructional league for children, a high school league for Grades 7 to 9, and a youth league for Grades 10 to 12. But the club doesn't just offer leagues. In addition, anybody can rent ice and Kalthoff even offers lessons.
This year, there are about 300 curlers participating in the different leagues.
The club will be hosting a few big events this year. The first is a world curling tour event from Dec. 12 to 14, which is a men's bonspiel where participants will be playing for almost $10,000 worth of cash, and it's a 16-team limit bonspiel.
"We've always filled up that bonspiel here," he said.
Humboldt will also host the joint junior provincials from Jan. 1 to 5, which is a competition for the top junior ladies' and men's teams for the age group 20 and under. Teams from all over Saskatchewan will compete, and Kalthoff expects to have at least 250 watching the games.
"I guess that's why the curling club's a good thing," he said. "Every couple of years we have a big thing that gets a lot of people in here."
These events mean that businesses in the city get more customers as well. However, the curling club is not just about making money.
"I think it offers something to do for all ages," Kalthoff said. "You've got the youth that are learning to curl, you've got the seniors, you've got the ladies, the men, just anybody can come. It doesn't matter how good you are, we have a league for you."
