‘Come and try the sport’: Medicine Hat Curling Centre set to conclude first year back

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The centre was forced to cease operations in the fall of 2022 for required maintenance. It was finally able to re-open in October with a new ice plant, cooling lines and finished renovations.

The final month will be busy.

The Men’s Bonspiel is on this weekend, followed by the Ladies Bonspiel a week later. The combined Bowling and Curling Strike and Sweep event will close out March.

Once the centre shuts down March 30, it will be closed until October when curling starts up again.

During the off-season and after the ice melts, the space will be rented out to user groups for events on the concrete surface.

Senior curlers took to the ice the Medicine Hat Curling Centre on Wednesday morning.

Sheila Rumberg began curling in Schuler at the age of 12, and has been a regular curler in Medicine Hat since moving into the city in 1978.

“(I did the) Curled Ladies League, a couple other leagues over the years,” Rumberg said.

“Now, I still curl ladies and seniors, because I am just barely qualifying for seniors,” she joked with a laugh.

Rumberg said it has been nice to be back on the ice in Medicine Hat, after the centre shut down for a couple of years.

“We had COVID just prior to that, so there was very little curling the last number of years,” Rumberg said.

“It’s very good to see the club up and running again, and hopefully we keep building on some of our leagues, which have taken quite a hit.”

General Manager Bryden Smith said he is happy with the numbers they have seen in their first year back.

He said the club has close to 400 registered members. That jumps to about 700 with other rentals and school groups.

“Definitely positive aspects is the number of curlers that have returned as well as the support we’ve received from those curlers,” Smith said.

“The other positive thing too is just the amount of new individuals in our building, whether they’re here to curl, have a meal, they’re here for another rental group, or like we have a few dart league teams that play out of here,” he added.

“All those are really fantastic to see.”

Smith said the numbers are close to where they were before the closure.

He admits there has been some learning and adjustments to get the curling ice just right, with the new portable brine lines that cool the ice.

That will continue when the club takes the ice out.

“We’ll have to do some learning to be honest with our new portable ice mats,” Smith said.

“It won’t be as simple as turning off the plant and walking away, it’ll be shaving down the ice, squeegeeing off any of the water that comes with it, and then rolling them back up,” he added.

“But we’re excited for the challenge ahead.”

Smith hopes to see the numbers of curlers at the club continue to grow next year, a sentiment shared by Rumberg.

“Totally have people come down,” Rumberg said.

“We have beginning lessons at the beginning of next year. There’ll be lessons again, and leagues to try and encourage people to come and try the sport,” she added.

“If you haven’t curled for a number of years, just come back to it. More than welcome.”

Before the centre closes temporary in March, Rumberg and others will continue to enjoy being able to curl in Medicine Hat again.

by Jesse Gill

‘Come and try the sport’: Medicine Hat Curling Centre set to conclude first year back

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