Thunder Bay's curling clubs won't see benefits of Scotties 2022

One group which hoped fans would be in the stands at the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont., will have to look at other ways to raise money, and promote the sport.

The city's three curling clubs, Port Arthur, Fort William and Kakabeka Falls, all stood to benefit from the Scotties. While there are still benefits to be had when it comes to promotion of the sport, the impact will not be nearly as great as when people could take part in the event slated to start Friday at Fort William Gardens.

"That's always the hope, is when people are in the building, [they're] watching the curling, they're seeing it on tv and saying, 'I want to try this sport' and trying to build upon the membership that we already have," said Michel Daigle, the president at the Port Arthur Curling Club.

Daigle said the original plan, was to have all three curling clubs work together to promote the sport, and also help raise money for the facilities.

"Our expectation was that a lot of people were going to become interested in curling that might not have otherwise, and there were some plans, some groups were planning on handing out pamphlets and offering free lessons, or free time after the event," said Ken Kopechanski, the president of the Fort William Curling Club.

"There was an expectation that there would be more people involved with curling afterwards."

While the clubs hope locals watching the Scotties on television could bring in some new teams, particularly after a lack of new teams joining during the pandemic, there was another potential payoff.

The clubs were also set to benefit from a portion of ticket sales, as well as a 50/50 draw. Ticket sales were halted, and are being refunded, while the 50/50 draw is now strictly online.

The money that could have been raised, would be used for long-term projects, something that many clubs are unable to do at the moment, said Don Lammi, the manager at the Port Arthur Curling Club.

"Having this revenue generated is a bonus for being able to potentially plan for equipment upgrades that otherwise we do status quo, as we use our membership revenue mostly for daily upkeep of the club," he said.

Lammi said maintaining a club - especially Port Arthur with a building that is more than 100 years old - is costly, with constant repairs to the building and its equipment.

All three agree that while it is disappointing the Scotties will not be held with fans in the stands, for at least the round robin portion of the 2022 Scotties, there is hope that curling fans will still support the clubs with the online draw.