The Viterra Men's Provincial Curling Championship is reaching a major milestone when the championship comes to Stride Place in early 2025. It will be 100 years that the tournament has been around, and Dean Moxham shares why that's a big deal.
"We're the first province in Canada to reach 100 years of men's provincial championships," Moxham notes. "We've always been at the forefront of winning national championships, and there's a strong community background for curling here."
Moxham adds that there could be a tough group trying to reach the provincial championship.
"I'm thinking it will be. It might the last 'Hurrah' for the 32-team event, and being the 100th, it's a historical situation. We were very lucky that Curl Manitoba came to us and offered us the opportunity to host this. We think it's going to be a bang-up, real interesting field, and I think the crowd's going to be amazing, just because it's the 100th, and we're doing a few extra things to celebrate it."
With the plan in place to host it in Portage, the club is hosting volunteer nights from 6 p.m. to 7:15, Monday, November 4 through Wednesday, November 6 to help fill up the list of positions that are needed. Registration can be found in the lobby of the curling club, and Moxham says that with registering, you can also get an official event sweater, though the cost will be $40 along with that.
He says there are a variety of positions available to be filled.
"The big ones are always the off-ice security, which is ticket-taking, different things like that. Ice-making group, that's a fairly large one because it's a longer part of the process. Bartending has been kind of taken care of. Hospitality is one that we're adding a little bit of work to this year. There's a whole variety. 50-50 is still in need of some people. So, yeah, if you show up, we'll find a place for you."
The championship runs from February 4-9, with the winner moving on to represent Manitoba at the Canadian Men's Championship.