ESTEVAN - It's going to be another busy season for the Estevan Curling Club.
Club manager Pauline Ziehl Grimsrud said the ice was installed at its Power Dodge Curling Centre a little earlier than normal. Some of the senior curlers gave three of the six sheets a test run Oct. 15.
"We put a call out, asking for curlers to come help us get the green out of the ice and to see what kind of curl we have and what kind of speed we have," she said.
Open house evenings happened on Oct. 23 and 24, giving members and potential curlers the chance to come down to the rink. League play will begin Oct. 28.
All of their regular leagues are back this season. The afternoon drop-in league will happen on Mondays and Wednesdays at 1 p.m. Tuesdays will have the Estevan Police Association's youth league and the TS&M Supply doubles league. Wednesday evenings will offer the Great Western recreational league, with what Ziehl Grimrud called a six-pack format, with six-end games played over six weeks, and six beers to go with the curling.
"We did that last year, and it was very popular, so we'll be doing that again," she said.
Thursday nights will feature the open league, and Sundays will boast the Southern Plains Co-op youth curling for kindergarten to Grade 5 students. Traditionally the Sunday league ended at Christmas, but this year it has been extended into February.
Ziehl Grimsrud said teams are starting to register for their leagues. The Sunday and Tuesday youth leagues are getting close to capacity, she said, and numbers are comparable to last year.
Each month the club will have free drop-in curling on Friday nights, and it is looking to have a learn-to-curl program in January for a few weeks. Then the club will work with the curlers to get them into leagues.
As for special events, a CurlSask U18 triples bonspiel will be taking place Dec. 6 and 7. In triples, teams are comprised of three players instead of four, and each curler throws two rocks in an end. Instead of awarding points for each end, they play three sets of two ends each. A team is awarded points if they win a set, and the third set is worth more than the first two.
"It is a development in curling that has come forth as a means of teaching kids to play different positions … on the team in order to learn the game," said Ziehl Grimsrud.
In the new year, the club will host its annual Southern Plains Co-op U15/U18 youth bonspiel. Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association events will be happening throughout February,, with junior doubles districts Feb. 7 and 8, senior doubles and senior boys' districts Feb. 14 and 15, and regionals for senior doubles and senior boys' teams on Feb. 28 and March 1.
The season will wrap up at the end of March with the Estevan Oilfield Technical Society's annual Open Bonspiel.
The club is also working with CurlSask to run a one-day youth curling camp for those ages nine to 15, but a date hasn't been finalized.
The club also hopes to see a return of Special Olympics curling this season.
Upgrades in the building include new monitors upstairs and downstairs. Cameras are now above the rings on all six sheets; previously they were above sheets two through five. A floor has been added to the service sheets next to sheets 1 and 6.
"Hopefully that will help with cleanliness out on the ice surface and for deterioration out on the side sheets," said Ziehl Grimsrud.
The curling club is also waiting to find out if it has been awarded the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts national women's curling championship. The club announced in April its intention to submit a bid for the competition, and the document has been submitted to Curling Canada. Ziehl Grimsrud said the club expects to find out in late December or early January if it will host nationals.
