Mike Libbus knew something was up when an unusual occurrence happened at the Turner Valley Golf Club.
"My wife (Carli) actually called me off the golf course which was rare so I figured something might be up," he said. "She never does that, but I totally didn't expect the award from Curling Alberta. When I walked in all my family and friends were in there, and staff and some of the executives from Curling Alberta.
"It was pretty humbling to see and I was surprised the award was for me, for sure."
On July 9, Libbus, the general manager of the Okotoks Curling Club, was presented with the Curling Alberta President’s Award for his contributions to the roaring game.
Be it pebbling the ice, organizing behind the scenes or setting up a livestream, if curling is involved you can bet Libbus is a part of the experience.
"It is pretty amazing to be recognized, but I don't look at it as an individual award," he said. "I look at it as a team, our staff in Okotoks, High River, Black Diamond, we all work together to try and grow the game of curling. I've just been fortunate to surround myself with some smart people and people that have the same kind of drive to take on any kind of challenge and try and grow our clubs to get more exposure for the game.
"I owe a lot of it to the staff - John Steel, Peter Keenan, Kristine Campbell are some of our main people and then I've got some great volunteers, Wade and Atina Johnston and the board in Okotoks and all of the clubs have been great. Without them we definitely couldn't have done anything
Libbus is just the third person to receive the award, joining fellow curling builders Renée Sonnenberg and Barb Dickinson.
In his speech, Curling Alberta president Steve Young outlined the merits of a worthy recipient noting the individual needs to reflect Curling Alberta’s values of fearless leadership, trusted professionals, part of a community and excellence by design.
“I am confident you will agree with me that this year’s recipient clearly demonstrates each of these values,” Young said.
“He is unequivocally a leader, is multi-talented, sought after for his opinions and knowledge, has an unparalleled passion for the sport, is honest in every conversation, brings unique perspective, is dedicated to his club, and has a genuine love for his community.”
Libbus has been deeply entrenched in the Foothills curling community for several years as a manager and ice-maker at Black Diamond’s Oilfields Curling Club and a junior coach. His children Jacob and Sydney have been high level curlers with several opportunities to compete and win on a provincial stage.
Libbus’ role in shepherding the Okotoks Curling Club through the challenges of the pandemic was highlighted.
From setting up and broadcasting livestreams of curling competitions so families and friends unable to attend could watch live to creating opportunities for membership to get on the ice and practice to helping organize some of the largest scale competitions during the year, Libbus made his mark in 2020.
Libbus co-chaired the Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts in January, 2020 and after the pandemic took hold was able to help secure the OCC as hosts of the ATB Curling Classic, Okotoks Mixed Doubles Classic and Alberta Ladies Tour event.
He was also expected to be involved in the icemaking for the provincial championships in Sylvan Lake prior to the event being cancelled.
“Navigating the constantly changing landscape, he provided opportunities for curlers to return to the game in a safe environment and on some of the best ice in the province,” Young added.
“He opened the doors to the Okotoks Curling Club for practice ice that attracted competitive junior and adult teams from across Southern Alberta, operated a full line-up of competitive and recreational leagues, and instructed at the Okotoks Junior Curling Academy.”
The good news for the 2021-22 season is all three of the big events from 2020 are scheduled to be back on the docket at the Okotoks Curling Club along with the Alberta Mixed Curling Championships in September in what's poised to be another prolific campaign for the club.
During the so-called curling offseason, Libbus works for the PGA of Alberta as the onsite tournament co-ordinator.
It was through golf that Libbus found his way into curling.
"I've always loved the game of curling, since I was a teenager. I didn't play it growing up, but years of watching Sandra Schmirler curl, the strategy always fascinated me," he said. "When I was a golf pro at Turner Valley I just went into some curling recreationally and really started to love the game, but never expected to be managing or involved in any part of the game other than playing.
"Some opportunities came up and I thought I could help out and just went from there and has continued to grow ever since. I also won an award back in 2013 and I thanked my one person and that one person has grown into a big family now.
"It's pretty amazing to see what's happened."
