For the first time since the pandemic began in mid-March the Prince George Golf and Curling Club is rockin’ again
League play resumed Monday morning with sturling teams on the ice for the first of three draws (9:30 and 11 a.m., and 1 p.m.).Each team throws six rocks in six-end games that last about an hour.
The Monday Night Men’s League has two draws scheduled today, at 6 and 8:30 p.m. and one on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Registration is down slightly this year, with about 250 players signed up, but the drop was expected because of the pandemic.
COVID-19 protocols are in place to limit the risk of transmission of the virus.
“We’re recommending that people wear masks when come in the building until that get on the ice and spread out,” said PGGCC curling co-ordinator Geoff Funk. “We wipe down the rocks between every draw and sanitize everything and no one is allowed to clean the ice, that’s all on us now.
“The teams that aren’t playing this year they did defer because they’re nervous and that’s understandable.”
There was a potential exposure in the building that houses the curling club when someone who visited the adjacent OVERhang Climbing Gym tested positive for COVID. That person was there on Oct. 28 from 5 – 8:45 p.m. and again last Monday from 7:45-8:45 p.m.
OVERhang has utilized contact tracing to determine who was there at the same time as the infected person.
“They work independently and we weren’t open on one of the two exposure dates,” said PGGCC general manager Don McDermid. “On the second night the person was here for an hour during our curling so there had been no interaction at all. They have their own washrooms and their own facilities.”
To provide more protection for the curlers on the ice, just four sheets are being used (half of capacity), which means fewer players on the rink at any one time. Teams will be keeping their distance with two players on each team remaining at either end of the ice.
The scoreboards will not be used. Instead, scores will be recorded on a clipboard.
Each league is required to record the names and phone numbers of each player as they arrive for their games.
For added safety, all curlers are required to have their own equipment and the club won’t be supplying brooms, sliders or grippers except for junior curlers.
The Auto Magic Commercial League has 19 teams, down about six teams from last year. They curl Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6 and 8:30 p.m. During the daytime on Thursday, the folks who make up Senior Mixed League will be tossing stones at 10 a.m. at 1 p.m.
Juniors are in action on Tuesdays from 4:15 – 5:30 p.m.
The senior mixed league has two draws every Thursday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The Friday Night Mixed League plays two draws on Fridays, at 6 and 8:30 p.m.
A new Doubles League will have each team throwing six stones in eight-end games on Saturdays starting at 1 p.m.
For adults new to the game there’s Adult Beginners Drop-In Curling on Saturdays from 6:30-9 p.m., which will start in January.
The start of the Little Rocks program for kids aged 8-12 will also be delayed until January. They are scheduled for Saturdays at 1 p.m.
