The Penticton Curling Club is already seeing heightened interest in the sport as the city gears up to host the national women’s curling championships known as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The tournament gets underway on Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre (SOEC) in Penticton.
Local club manager Cathy Jones says hosting the Scotties is sparking curling interest.
“We’ve grown a lot just this year, we’ve encouraged schools to come and learn the sport of curling,” she said.
Jones says membership has grown by more than 100 people in the past year and juniors programs have doubled.
She said curling is growing in popularity.
“Curling is a big event watcher when it comes to curling on TV so you’ve got the Scotties here, you’ve got the Brier soon and then you’ve got the Olympics run and some of these teams that we’ve had in our own club curling are at the Olympics,” Jones said.
Local curling enthusiasts helped to secure the Scotties bid by buying up enough tickets to ensure its success.
“It’s going to be good for the town and it’s going to bring in a lot of economic benefit, and maybe it will inspire some of the young people in this town to become involved,” said Penticton curler Kenneth Ferg.
“Having the attention certainly always does help, there is a lot of curlers our age and not a lot of curlers in their twenties,” added Paul Leslie.
Jones said half of the club’s members are also volunteering at the tournament to make sure everything runs smoothly.
It will be the first 16-team edition of the championships and the first that will feature a Wild Card Game.
You can purchase tickets at the South Okanagan Events Centre box office, online at curling.ca/tickets or by phone at 1-877-763-2849.
WATCH BELOW: Penticton to host 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts