Sad news: our curling season is over

Hi all,

I am sad to say that our curling season is now officially over. After the extension of the current Public Health Order last Thursday, the board of the Township of Esquimalt has made the decision to shut down the ice plant in the curling rink. They did not make this decision lightly, and they have been very generous in keeping the ice in as long as they have with no renters to pay for it against the hope that the current restrictions would be lifted. I met with the ECC board last week and we decided to let Esquimalt know that while we would keep curling if the ice was still there on February 5, and if (big if) the restrictions were lifted, we would also understand if they needed to pull the ice out. Dan and his board tried to find ways to make it work, but ultimately they made the difficult call that I suspected they would have to make and Dan called me this morning to let me know.

I would like to stress that Dan and the Township of Esquimalt have been fantastic throughout this entire time and I cannot fault the support that they have given us, and I have nothing but gratitude for the efforts that they made--at no expense to us--to help ensure that we would be able to have as much of a season as we did.

Thank you all for your support, participation, and patience this season. I would also like to acknowledge the amount of time and effort that has been put in over the past several months by the league executives in managing their leagues, and the ECC board for their extraordinary work in helping to form and to implement the Return to Curling policy which allowed us to safely have as much of a season as we could have had under the circumstances. Given the conditions, it is remarkable that we were able to get almost to the holiday break with no major issues and to do so in a manner which kept our members safe. This was no small task and this board handled it extremely well. I would especially like to thank the executive for the many hours and extra efforts taken in meetings, consultations with Curl BC and viaSport, and poring over guidelines and rules in order to create our Return to Curl policy. I cannot imagine another group of people who would have been better suited to rise to this challenge.

Have a safe and happy spring and summer, and here's looking forward with hope to a fresh start with the fall season.

Torben Wilson
President, Esquimalt Curling Club

Curling has been suspended - extended to Feb 5, 2021

Curling has been suspended

Today the PHO posted their updated order and unfortunately curling is now specifically listed as one of the sports which is suspended.

Until further notice, all curling activities of the Esquimalt Curling Club are suspended. We do not yet have all the details, but the City is aware of the order. Please notify your league members as soon as possible.

The specifics are available online here: RESTRICTIONS

I would like to thank all of our league reps and club members as well as the staff of the Township of Esquimalt, and especially our ECC executive committee, for their hard work and perseverance in getting us this far. Hopefully this does not last long. We will keep you posted as we learn more.

Torben Wilson