The roaring and crashing sounds of rocks sliding down the ice and smacking each other near the button will be making a reappearance this season. As people make their way back into organized sports, so too will people in Strathmore be hitting the ice and going back to league play for curling.

The first chance for members of the Strathmore and District Curling Club to get back on the ice will be right after the Thanksgiving long weekend, explained the Strathmore and District Curling Club’s Ken Shackleton.

The ice is going in this week

“Registrations have started and we hope to start curling on Tuesday right after the long weekend,” he said. The ice is going in and league reps are reaching out to see who’s interested in curling this year.

Earlier in the year, the club’s board decided to participate in the province’s Restrictions Exemption Program. The program requires people visiting the curling facility to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

“That's basically the only way we could open, so we've been working with Curling Alberta and we basically have a consent form that if someone wants to curl in one of our leagues, we have them sign the consent form to provide us with the information, and then they'll show us their vaccination card, or if they can get a medical exemption document from a doctor, will accept that as well,” he explained.

The form will be signed and kept as a record, the actual vaccination records will not be kept by the club.

When people come to curl or watch curling, if they are a club member they show their proof of vaccination on their first visit.

“They shouldn't have to show it again, because we know who they are, and as they come and go we're also going to maintain a paper list of who's registered,” said Shackleton.

Spectators or visitors will need to show their proof of vaccination, the same way people who visit restaurants that are in the Restriction Exemption Program do.

In the meantime, Shackleton explained that bonspiels usually start in the new year, so now people can look forward to league curling. The Ladies League starts on Tuesdays, Men’s League on Mondays, Juniors League on Wednesdays after school, there’s a Seniors-centered league on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, and a Mixed League on Thursdays and Fridays.

The Strathmore and District Curling Club sent out a survey to their membership in response to COVID-19 restriction and implementation of their new policies, and Shackleton says about half of the members responded and 70 per cent were in favor of implementing the policy.

“We did get some fairly strong support. I know we're going to lose some teams, that's just the way of things. I think we're still going to have a pretty good season this year. Things are shaping up pretty well,” he said.

To register or find out more about the Strathmore and District Curling Club, visit the club online at https://strathmorecurling.ca.