Calling all curlers, game needs your help

Doug McConachie, The StarPhoenix
Published: Saturday, January 21, 2006

NIPAWIN — Some would say there is a curling crisis in in the province. Saskatchewan Curling Association executive director Don Bacon prefers to say the sport is at a crossroads.

While acknowledging a slide in the number of competitive curlers — from 34,164 in 2003-04 to 32,422 last year — and a gradual, but continual decline in the number of curling clubs — from 207 two years ago to 198 last season — Bacon says it’s not the disaster some are making it out to be.

Oh?

True, every now and then there’s a spike somewhere, giving hope for something positive. This year that spike was in Yorkton, where eight rinks entered the women’s playdowns, making it the largest region in the north.

But for every positive, there are growing problems in other regions. In Saskatoon, only 40 men’s rinks entered playdowns. The Nutana and Hub Curling Clubs used to have more than 40 rinks each. This year, the Hub has one team, and that’s not a misprint.

Bacon remembers when there were 700 men’s rinks at the start of playdowns in the province. In the last four years, the number of men’s rinks in Saskatoon has dropped 60 per cent.

Only 28 rinks signed up for the northern women’s playdowns this season and another 33 in the south. In half a dozen years, the field has dropped by 40 per cent.

Curlers are calling for change. They want wide open provincial playdowns where every team that pays its dues qualifies. They want a reduction in regions from 14 to 10, or perhaps even eight.

The men introduced the Saskatchewan Tour, which allows rinks to qualify for the the provincial finals through bonspiels. It was done to rejuvenate the game in smaller centres. Some of the best men’s teams responded by completely skipping Tour events. How does that help promote the sport?

While the SCA has done a bang-up job developing junior programs, Bacon admits the association doesn’t have all the answers.

He also knows the SCA can’t continue to operate the way it has. This year will mark the third consecutive season in which finances are in the red. Unlike the Saskatchewan Roughriders who can put out a mercy call and a hold telethon, nobody is going to rush in and bail the SCA out.

Some of the problem is evolution. In the old days, there was either hockey or curling in the winter, take your pick. Now there are a hundred sports to play, plus wall-to-wall entertainment options.

Some of it is lifestyle. Between jobs and family, women are busier than ever and have little room for recreation.

Another problem is cost. It’s not just the cost of joining a curling club, there is the time off work to play on the bonspiel circuit and the cost of transportation and hotel rooms and entry fees.

And part of the problem, Bacon says, is curling itself. He says there are now three levels of curlers: Recreational, competitive and elite. Many in the competitive group don’t believe they can beat the elite curlers, so they skip playdowns.

“That gap is widening,” Bacon says. “It’s a problem right across Canada.”

The solution is with the curlers themselves, Bacon says. He says while there have been many suggestions made in the past, when it came time to try to make changes there was no consensus among curlers. The SCA board can’t dictate change. It is comprised of volunteers who hold the sport near and dear. They want curling to survive, but they need the input from the participants. Curlers, it’s time to buck up. Quit complaining. Stop waiting for somebody else to fix it. It’s now up to you.