It's confirmed: Twin Rivers Curling Club is closing down its curling season.
The curling club's Board of Directors met Thursday night and announced they had made the "difficult decision to close our curling season and begin removal of the ice," according to the club's news release.
The final blow had come on Jan. 12 with news from the province that the existing public health orders would continue until at least Jan. 29.
But other sports organizations such as Saskatchewan Hockey Association have stated that the provincial pause on competitive sports would be in place well beyond that date, with hockey not likely to resume until late March at the earliest. Earlier on Thursday, CURLSASK announced it had been turned down by the province Jan. 13 in its bid to host curling playdowns in a "bubble" format, and has cancelled its provincial championships.
Without much hope of restrictions being lifted any time soon, the local curling club's board has thrown in the towel, after consulting members by email for input over the last couple of days.
"Since the Provincially mandated pause on curling began Nov. 27, we had been hopeful that curling would resume, even under the sport’s COVID-19 modified rules of play, at some time in the near future," the curling club stated in a release. "It’s become evident this will not be the case and Twin Rivers cannot afford the costs of keeping the ice in without league or event revenue."
The club expressed gratitude to the sponsors and curlers, and said that Twin Rivers will be considering alternative uses for the facility for the next five to eight months. They will consider proposals that fall within current Provincial Health Guidelines.
"We look forward to a time when we can again host curling and community events such as our spring Steak and Lobster Supper, Prairieland Curling Camp, CurlSask High Performance Centre, Swing and Slide golf tournament / bonspiel and of course regular league curling."
