SUNDRE – For the first time, the Sundre Curling Club is transitioning away from paper and taking registrations online into a digital format.
New club president Glen Smith said that switching over to a software made available courtesy of Curling Canada called Curling IO – which stands for improvement opportunities – is intended to not only facilitate tracking the group’s membership but will also streamline building draw schedules through an online portal.
As of the time when he spoke with the Albertan at the club’s upper lounge room that overlooks the sheets that were almost ready for play, Smith said the club was at about 120 registered players for the 2024-25 season.
“It’s looking pretty good,” he said, adding there are some new couples that have joined up this season.
Overall, that breaks down into the following leagues: an open, a ladies afternoon, a seniors, as well as two sturling and a juniors.
“We don’t have a men’s league, we dropped it a couple years ago. Most of the guys that played men’s ended up moving to the open league,” said Smith, adding that doesn’t necessarily mean a men’s league won’t eventually get restarted should the membership grow along with an increased demand for one.
For the time being, the registration period’s deadline has technically passed. However, that should not dissuade anyone who might be inclined to try out the sport for their first time or maybe even get back into it after a dry spell.
“We’re used to catching the last few people right up until when you start curling,” he said, adding the club isn’t about to turn away anyone who shows up this week when curlers begin regular league play.
Meanwhile, the junior league – which is run by the club and separate from the Sundre High School’s curling program – doesn’t get started until mid-November so younger players still have an opportunity to sign up.
And with the ice prep all finished on Friday, Oct. 25, the club hosted over the past weekend an all-ages learn-to-curl clinic at no cost prior to the start of regular season draws.
Curlers and those who might come out just to watch regular league play can also anticipate looking forward to getting refreshments at the lounge’s bar, while a new operator has been lined up for the concession that is expected to be open for main events and possibly more regularly, although details were still being worked out, he said.
The first bonspiel of the season will be the seniors on Dec. 3-6.
Investigating accessibility options
Aside from carrying out some repairs on the side of the building that sustained damage earlier this spring when a vehicle collided into the wall creating an expense that will fortunately be covered by insurance, Smith said the club also intends to start looking into preliminary planning on an accessibility project.
Lonnie Halladay, past president, said an accessibility study was conducted late in the spring and early summer of 2024 that had identified shortfalls in 10 categories.
The study was conducted by Didsbury resident Cody Krebs, an accessibility architect, said Halladay.
Following a 2022 collision, Krebs was left paralyzed from the chest down and now requires a wheelchair to get around.
Last year, Krebs came to the curl at the Sundre rink, said Halladay, adding that experience was primarily what persuaded the club to start considering ways to improve the facility’s accessibility.
“(Krebs) got us thinking about going in that direction,” he said. “We’re trying to come up with a lift to be able to come up here (to the lounge area) as well as the ice level.”
Although the club has other high-priority maintenance and upkeep items on its plate, Smith said accessibility is now being kept in mind and will be factored into future planning.
