The Martensville Curling Club is hosting their annual Junior League to start the new year every Sunday night from January 7 to March 18. Dave Zukewich is coordinating the juniors and is very pleased with the turn out. They have reached their capacity of 40 curlers and have a waiting list. The curlers are ages nine and up and vary in ability from beginners to advanced.
The first two weeks they focus on skill development and practising these skills. The next weeks they play mini four end games where they practise skills as well as learn strategies of the game. The last week, they hold a fun skills competition and end off with a pizza party. It’s a fun way to expose these young curlers to the game of curling.
With so many young curlers on the ice, there is a need for many volunteers. The club would like to thank the following volunteers for helping with the junior program. Cara Zukewich, Don Miller, Rocky Marcinkiw, Kathie and Laverne Derksen, Scott Remeshylo, Mike Steckler, and Leigh Solomon.
The club is also hosting a Men’s Spiel on January 19-21. For more information, contact Derek at 306-260-8940. The annual Ladies Bonspiel is on February 10-11. Contact Heather 306-241-5894.
President’s Report
The Junior Program at the Martensville Curling Club has really taken off. We have 40 youngsters registered for this years’ program which is very good to see. The first night went well with all kids leaving with a big smile on their faces as they learned the fundamentals of the sport. Some of these kids have curled before so they were very good at helping out the younger ones who had their curling shoes on for the first time ever.
As for the other club activities, we are hosting a Men’s Bonspiel Jan 19-20 and this will be an “old school” pick a prize spiel. Also, Feb 9-11 the Women’s Bonspiel will run. This is always a popular event and a lot of fun. Our last spiel will be the open spiel which is slated for March 10-11. This one again will be “pick a prize” format.
Our club is also seeing improvements and one area in particular is the lounge. We now have 3 big screen tvs and hi-def programming. Our club has also brought on board a beer sponsor for our evening draws and provided to us a new draft beer system. This has proven to be quite popular and is also seeing others in from around the community who are not even members. Big Al’s catering downstairs is also making appetizer platters for everyone upstairs so our lounge is a great place to get together with friends, even if you aren’t a curler. We also have free WIFI this year. We are looking to plan a few events on the weekends like Super Bowl and UFC parties. Advertisers in the community have also shown excellent support of our club and this year we have the most advertising banners on the walls and on the ice than we have ever had before. It is nice to see community involvement and it is greatly appreciated.
Our club has seen an increase in rentals and many companies have booked the club for staff functions. If anyone is looking for info on the club, or booking a staff function, they can contact us at Don Miller at buttonweight@gmail.com or www.martensvillecurlingclub.ca.
Don Miller – President, Martensville Curling Club
