When you’re a curling club in a small community far from larger centres, it can be a challenge to keep the sheets full and members happy. But the Blind River Curling Club hasn’t let its relatively small size get in the way of providing successful leagues and activities for curlers of all ages and levels.

Juan de Fuca Curling Centre in Victoria, B.C., has found a number of innovative ways to attract and retain new curlers, thanks to some creative thinking and valuable partnerships with local businesses.

“There is no magic pill, only hard work,” says Dan Girard, manager of Alberta’s Sherwood Park Curling Club, about the effort required to provide a positive experience for club members, year in, year out.

A few years ago, when Kathy Arnold looked into starting a Learn to Curl program at the McArthur Island Curling Club in Kamloops, B.C., she had no idea the results would be so spectacular – and so long term.

Finding revenue beyond membership fees is a concept that is sometimes forgotten when it comes to curling clubs. Corporate partnerships are great ways to find secondary sources of revenue, an opportunity that many clubs are missing out on.

They’ve been curling at the Glendale Golf and Country Club in Hamilton, Ontario, since 1960, but when ClubLink stepped in to take over management of the golf facility two years ago, the big question arose: will Glendale continue to offer curling as well as golf?

Je me suis amusé le week-end dernier à naviguer sur les différents sites qui traitent de curling, entre autres sur celui, évidemment, de l’Association canadienne de curling. Comme à toutes les fois que je visite ce site, je

We have been recently challenged by a couple of curling club managers to consider creating an on-line forum for club managers and/or Board members where they could share ideas and best practices. It is now generally accepted that facilities, especially in urban settings (where there may be more than one building in the area), are not in competition with each other. And that sharing of ideas is now a good thing!

Audrey Frey is the manager of the Rideau Curling Club in Ottawa, played lead for Anne Merklinger at a number of Tournament of Hearts, AND is about to graduate as a sommelier!!

With the excitement of the Vancouver Olympics still in our rear view mirrors and many new Canadian curlers anxious to get on the ice and give it a whirl, as Board members, managers and ice staff, we must ensure that we have our 'superior customer service' hats on nice and tight.