Curl Moncton (Photo: submitted by President Sherril Minns)
2022 isn’t off to a great start for Curl Moncton.
The New Brunswick Scotties Tournament of Hearts was supposed to begin on January 5th at the Club. The women’s curling championship was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“The memberships don’t cover all of our expenses. We are totally reliant financially on the special events that we host, such as the Scotties. It is a big revenue generator for us. It’s not just the curlers who come in, it is the community who comes in. It’s a chance to see the elite curlers, the best curlers, the best lady curlers in the province of New Brunswick and that generates additional interest as well within the whole of the community. All of those economic spinoffs disappear,” says Curl Moncton President Sherril Minns.
She adds, “At the start of the season, we were able to open one ice shed. Teams can come out and practice, but they can only practice in their team. Those teams cannot change and you cannot have spares. So we are still keeping one shed open, but we cannot have any events.”
Minns says they thought it would be full steam ahead for 2022, with everyone entering the facility being double vaccinated, “So we were planning for an almost a return to normal. We were starting to get bookings from corporate organizations looking for ice rentals and maybe some kitchen facilities and hosting their team events at the Club. We cancelled six events because of COVID-19 just because of the Christmas season. A lack of revenue means we aren’t going to be able to pay our bills. It puts us right back to where we were a year ago unfortunately.”
Last year, Curl Moncton was forced to close its doors early because of their financial situation, “The city generously came to our aid, but there were many conditions placed on the funding that the City was making available to us. We were working hard to meet those conditions but of course they want to see revenue streams. We spent the summer working on a strategic plan, putting goals and objectives into place, looking at financial targets, reviewing mechanisms for them. We did all of that work over the summer. We were looking forward to starting off in the New Year, and we opened our doors. Everyone had to be vaccinated to come through the doors. Once through the doors and on the ice, it was almost normal, but then Omicron struck and we ended up having to cancel many of our events,” Minns says.
When asked whether she thought the Club is in jeopardy, Minns responded, “As a Board we are very optimistic. We will work things out. Moncton needs curling in its community. It is part of a vibrant community, so we will work our way through this. We will struggle through this.”
