With curlers ranging in experience from seasoned veterans like Brent Gedak to some recreational league curlers coming in for their yearly opening stretch, the ice at the Power Dodge Curling Centre was a busy place to be Monday night.
The Esetvan Curling Club hosted their annual open house where curlers got to test out the ice – and the new carpet beside the ice – for free.
“With league play starting (this week), not many of our players have had the opportunity to be out on the ice this year,” said Pauline Ziehl Grimsrud. “We wanted people to come out and get their legs under them. The leagues start (Tuesday) night and also the ice is green.
“It needs to be broken in and it’s an opportunity for our ice-maker to look at the ice and see the curl, see what condition it’s in and see what he might like to do (Tuesday) to improve the ice conditions. It’s really an important night for us.”
Monday, the club hosted high school players and they brought in some new faces for the season. The club grew the Co-op Kids program last year and the youth program from Grades 6-9 grew as well.
“There’s a lot of excitement, of course, with some of the events we’ll be having and there’s a lot of talk about curling,” she said. “We’re glad to see the support from people coming out and curling. We have a lot of people in the community who want to come watch and just be a part of it.”
There’s also the rest of the curling season to look forward to, which will include a mixed doubles league for the first time.
“With the leagues, we’re up a little bit from last year so we’re really happy with that,” said Ziehl Grimsrud. “The doubles league is a new venture for us. We’ve got Pat Simmons coming up (Oct. 30), and he’s going to do a clinic and instruction for those of us in doubles, to teach us about the game.”
People who were introduced to the game at the Pyongyang Olympics can understand some of the finer nuances from Simmons, an official with the provincial curling association and a championship curler in his own right.
“It’s important that we start off on the right foot, so Curl Sask has offered to send Pat down to teach us, so we’re excited about that,” said Ziehl Grimsrud.
