In an announcement made Saturday, the city of North Battleford will host an event from the Pinty’s Grand Slam of
Curling next year.
Saskatchewan has held the past two Canadian Open tournaments in Yorkton, but this year it will be inside the walls of the Civic Centre. Co-chair for GSOC, Russ Brown, says that getting the ice ready for curling will take around 36 hours.
“Many plans are already in place, many more to come,” an official statement from the Twin River club’s Facebook page read, “Look forward to the typical great volunteer support we get from the curlers and citizens of North Battleford." Brown believes they will be looking at 100-120 volunteers for the event, the selection process will be done in the near future.
The Pinty’s GSOC is an elite series of men’s and women’s curling events and are part of the World Curling Tour. The top 15 men's and women's teams from around the world will be partaking.
"This will be the best curling field ever assembled in this part of the country," Brown explained. He also said there will be over 20 hours of national TV coverage at the Civic Centre.
Sportsnet has operated the GSOC since 2012, and has been instrumental in growing the sport. From 2013 to 2015, curling viewers have grown 12%, up to 5.9 million in the latter.
"Last year, 56,000 people saw Pinty Grand Slam of Curling live," Brown said.
The Battlefords was one of seven communities bidding for a spot to host the GSOC.
The Canadian Open will take place Jan. 3-8 in 2017, with the playoffs running during the weekend. All proceeds will be funded back into the Twin Rivers Curling Club.
