The Lethbridge Curling Club is hoping its next event will be a hit with fans of the sport as the group gets set to play host to the 2024 Best Western Alberta Mixed Doubles Provincial Championship.
A total of 24 of the best male and female teams from the province will be in Lethbridge from Dec. 28-31.
“We’re expecting it to be pretty full upstairs,” said Kirk Mearns, general manager of the Lethbridge Curling Club.
Mearns adds there will be many familiar names within the sport taking part in the event.
“We’ll have curlers like Kayla Skrlik, who was just Team Alberta in the Scottie’s. Aaron Sluchinski skipped the team at the Grand Slam in Saskatoon. Really good curlers and really good action.”
Curling has seen a rise in popularity recently and in 2022, Lethbridge played host to the Tim Horton’s Brier at the Enmax Centre and, according to Sport Tourism Canada, the event generated $16.8 million in economic activity for Lethbridge.
Staff with Curling Alberta say the sport will only continue to grow in popularity in the region.
“Right now, we are seeing that curling is starting to be consumed in a whole different way than what it was before,” says Britney Andersen, the competitions & communications manager at Curling Alberta.
From 2022 to 2023, the membership from Curling Alberta grew about seven per cent and initial reporting for this season is showing an increase as well.
“Which is very exciting for us because this membership list is based on our 186-member curling facilities in the province and then their membership below. So, there’s about 30,000 or so member curlers across Alberta,” adds Andersen.
Curling action gets underway with the first draw on Dec. 28 at 3:30 p.m. at the Lethbridge Curling Club with opening ceremonies to follow at 6 p.m. and admission is free for all draws.