The Okotoks Curling Club is making a bid to host Alberta’s best at the roaring game.
Club officials reviewed its proposed budget on Jan. 11 and as a result of a commitment of $10,000 from the Town of Okotoks it is proceeding with its bid to host the 2014 Boston Pizza Alberta Men’s Championship.
“I have the application 95 per cent competed and I have a few t’s to cross and i’s to dot but I will have the application into SACA (Southern Alberta Curling Association) by early next week,” said Ron McLaren, chair of the bid committee.
At Okotoks town council’s Jan. 9 meeting, councillors backed the club’s plans to host the five-day event at the Centennial Arena in February 2014 with approximately $10,000 in support, including renting Centennial Arena at 2011 rates, waiving the rental costs for other facilities in the building and providing extra Town staff at no additional cost – all of which are expected to add up to $5,286. As well, the Town will provide the club with an additional $4,713 to help cover costs of hosting the event. This must be repaid from any profits over $50,000.
McLaren said when council agreed with the second phase of funding, the $4,713, it made the proposal economically viable and the bid committee decided at a Jan. 11 emergency meeting to submit its proposal to SACA.
“I believe we have a very strong application,” McLaren said. “(But) Realistically, I don’t know what others clubs (in Alberta) are submitting.”
He said the advantage the Okotoks bid has is its support from curling fans from the foothills area as well as the proximity to the more than one million people in nearby Calgary.
McLaren added the Centennial Arena, with a capacity of 2,000 spectators, would be one of the larger venues to host the men’s championship.
He said he has studied the economics of previous hosts since 2006 and all of them have finished in the black. The most successful has been High River in 2011, which had a profit of more than $100,000.
The Okotoks bid committee has budgeted a conservative estimate of approximately $50,000.
“If we thought we were going to make $100,000, we wouldn’t even have approached the Town,” McLaren said.
High River’s event was sold out at the Bob Snodgrass Recreation Complex Arena, which had a capacity of 500 spectators for the curling events. The well-organized High River committee was helped by a likely once in a lifetime draw in which a recent Olympic champion, Kevin Martin (2010), was pitted against defending World champion Kevin Koe.
However, the Okotoks committee isn’t going to settle for $50,000. McLaren said if the bid is successful, the committee will continue to seek the advice of the High River organizers as well as come up with some new twists.
The Foothills Centennial Centre will be used for social functions, such as a beer garden, as part of the curling championships.
McLaren added the Okotoks Curling Club hopes to promote the roaring game particularly with young curlers. He said the club has one of the most successful junior programs in southern Alberta.
“We are considering things like inviting high school and junior high school students to watch the morning or afternoon draws,” McLaren said. He added hosting youth clinics in conjunction with the championship is another possibility.
Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson said he was delighted the Okotoks Curling Club is proceeding with its bid.
“That’s great news,” Robertson said. “I received and e-mail (from McLaren) that they were going ahead and I forwarded it to the councillors. The response has been positive.”
He said he is confident the community will rally around the championship if the bid is successful.
Robertson said because the Centennial Arena is more costly to rent than the High River facility it was not possible for Okotoks to waive the entire rent for the facility as was done by High River town council for the 2011 championship.
The bid committee received an extension from SACA’s deadline of Jan. 15 in order to review its numbers after the Jan. 11 Okotoks council meeting.
SACA will review all its bids and forward the ones it accepts to the Alberta Curling Federation. The federation is expected to announce the winning bid in June.
