SASKATOON — It has become more common to see curling arenas expand their offerings to include rentals and other activities in the off-season, for year-round usage. Some of these expansion activities may be a result of rising costs to keep a seasonal club operational.
Saskatoon’s CN Curling Club is one of those places.
“Our largest outlays are taxes and utilities; at the coldest times of the year, these costs can surpass $15,000 per month,” says General Manager Dean Longworth.
“Additionally, we have an older building that needs annual maintenance.”
These costs are not always something curling membership dues can cover.
From September’s end to the last weekend in March, the CN Curling Club is one of Saskatoon’s curling centres. To help sustain the club and the building, the GM, staff, and the board of directors have undertaken additional income opportunities through various initiatives to help keep the rink active year-round and for people to become more familiar with the CN Curling Club, which potentially could translate into more curlers next season.
“Recruiting new members to curling is a challenge every year,” Longworth acknowledges. “For the past 10 or more years, curling has been declining. However, there has been a rise in the number of junior curlers. I am convinced that many of our clubs will not be able to survive unless we diversify into multipurpose facilities. There used to be seven curling clubs in Saskatoon alone, but now there are just three.”
The CN venue is primarily used for curling but their board and management team has since opened up space to accommodate pickleball when the ice melts, entering its fourth year of offering the activity. Longworth notes that pickleball is getting more popular each year, with an increase of members.
"Our bottom line does benefit from it," affirms the CN Curling Club GM.
A multi-purpose facility
The pickleball nets can easily be removed to allow the building to quickly become a rental space as a hall.
“Our building is available for rent for nearly anything that needs space,” Longworth says. “For instance, in May, the CN Curling Club will be host to the Make and Market Trade Show held in conjunction with the well-known annual Montgomery garage sale. A food truck and more than 50 vendors are scheduled for this May event.”
Longworth also says the club can and has been rented out for weddings, memorial services, graduations, birthdays and anniversaries as well as they have enjoyed rentals from businesses who are using the space for team building activities, whether that be pickleball in summer or curling in winter, as well as company Christmas parties.
The CN is always offering something new and for everyone and have hosted Kaiser tournaments, paint nights, showers and other events in the fully furnished lounge, where participants can order from the kitchen’s menu or can include a catered meal.
These non-traditional roles for a curling club all contribute to the income needed to help keep the club operational.
As far as the curling season, Longworth said they experienced only a minor drop in one league and launched a brand-new social league, known as the Not-So-Average Social League. This newly offered curling opportunity started with a team that had never been on curling ice, but they picked up the game quickly, which will result in them transitioning to a regular league next season. A big win for the CN Curling Club, whose goal is to recruit and retain membership.
Curling club diverse this season
The curling club also became diverse this season including a team of wheelchair-bound curlers on Wednesday, as well as the Saskatoon Blind Curling League.
“We had no idea how it would work, but quickly realized it was going to work flawlessly. I am very proud of our club for how welcoming everyone was to these new opportunities,” Longworth says.
Longworth proudly states the wheelchair team performed exceptionally well in provincials and is now headed to national competition in Quebec. The Blind Curling League also advanced to nationals in Nova Scotia.
As with many curling clubs, bonspiels are one of the attractions and help with revenue throughout the season. The CN Curling Club hosted five bonspiels staring in October and wrapping up with the grandparents' bonspiel at season’s end.
As part of the City Bonspiel, the CN Curling Club was home to a comedy night in the lounge which was well attended.
“We have hosted a wide variety of international groups. A group of people from Chile and Australia are in Saskatoon for work. As part of their 14-day road swing through the Prairies, we invited the Portland Winterhawks from the WHL to curl as a team-building exercise,” said Longworth.
Curling clubs across the province have been experiencing a decline. This is why the CN Curling Club is doing everything they can to add to their exposure whether in traditional ways or non-traditional attraction factors. And, at present, it appears to be working.
“I know there is a market for new curlers; they just don't know it yet,” says a positive club GM.
