An event expected to draw some of the top curlers in the world is coming to Olds.
Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling will be held April 21 to 26, 2020 on the main ice surface of the Sportsplex as part of the 2020 Humpty’s Champions Cup.
That announcement was made Friday during Sportsnet’s coverage of the Players’ Championship.
"Travelling to Olds for the community’s first Grand Slam event, the Humpty’s Champions Cup showcases the top 15 men’s and 15 women’s winners across the 2019-20 curling season in one final showdown," a news release provided by Sportsnet said.
"The exceptional talent pool, including the season’s Grand Slam champions, will compete in round-robin play for a combined $250,000 purse and the coveted Humpty’s Champions Cup title."
Olds Curling Club president Jeff Miller is excited by the news.
"It's absolutely amazing. We are ecstatic about the news and them being finally able to announce the news. We're super excited to have it coming to our town," he said during an interview with the Albertan.
"It's going to be the top 15 men's and ladies' curlers from the world coming to our town. The economic impact is potentially quite great for our town and surrounding communities as well.
"It is absolutely probably the largest athletic event ever to come here. To my knowledge we have never had a sporting event of this size come to this town."
Miller said the event is a great opportunity to showcase curling in Olds and hopefully encourage more youth to take up the sport.
"We're definitely going to focus on trying to expand our juniors and youth and encourage them to learn more about the sport of curling through this event," he said.
Despite the fact this event will draw some of the top curlers in the world, Miller said he's confident the main ice surface at the Sportsplex will have enough seating capacity for fans.
"There will be no extra seating brought in. The extra seats that we have will be adequate to what is required, I guess," he said.
Miller said the event has been planned for about the past six weeks.
