It is the Curling Off Season but ....
We are now well into the curling off season. The club’s regular season closed with our annual play downs at the end of the march. This year’s winner was the Pat Popovich rink, also known as the SCB’s ( you will have to ask them what it stands for ), including teammates Christina, Patty & Kelly. Congratulations to all members on a great season.
The other recent curling event was the annual Texas Open Bonspiel ( TOB ) which was held in mid April in Houston. As most of you are aware, originally this was to be held here in Austin, but we had to decline as we were unable to make acceptable arrangements with the local rink operator. Three rinks from our club travelled to Houston for this year’s bonspiel.
Robert Rounding and the Houston Curling Club did a great job with this year’s TOB. The bonspiel draw included 22 rinks. The had to deal with some adverse conditions, as heavy rains on Saturday caused flooding which shut down the rink’s ice plant. They were able to work around these problems, although curling at 2:00 AM posed some interesting challenges. The Gary Newgord rink, with Rob, Kelly & Christina, ended up winning the “B” event. My rink, with Karen & Landon, as well as our San Antonio ringer Kathy, wound up in 4th place in the “A” event.
The Austin contingent also had some good times at the bonspiel. The custom of using the club president’s room as the party site was put to good use. Pat may have started a tradition, with her rendition of “Ten Reasons why curling is better than …” (you will have to ask her if you want to know the remainder of the title ). Next year’s TOB will also be held in Houston. I encourage everyone, no matter your skill level, to consider playing.
At the end of March, the club also had its general membership meeting at Zilker Park. After “rousing” campaigning, I was re-elected ( OK, it was by acclamation ) president, and Dennis Dunn was elected vice president for the 2009 / 2010 season. Since then, we have had 2 board meetings, and the following will be the executive and committee coordinators for this season:
Secretary: Christina
Treasurer: Landon
Competition: Rob
Membership: Pat
Special Events: Uly
Communications: Michelle
Front Desk & Logo Shop: Darlene
Feel free to contact any of us if you have questions, concerns, suggestions, etc.
Plans for the new season are well under way. Our play will continue to be on Sunday mornings, from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM. Season startup events include:
Sept. 13 – Intermediate Curling Education session
Sept. 20 – Learn to Curl for new members
Sept. 27 – Regular Season start
Watch your email for more information as we get closer to September.
The major challenge facing the club this season is to grow our membership. When we moved to the new Chaparral Ice facility last season, our hourly rates increased, so each session now costs $450.00. Last season, we had only 6 rinks in our regular draw, and ended up loosing about $1000 on ice fees ( i.e.: we paid out more than we took in ). With 4 sets of rocks, we could easily accommodate more curlers each Sunday. This would help so that we could break even on the cost of the ice.
The major factor this year is the Winter Olympics, which will be held in Vancouver, BC in February. As some of you are aware, it was after the last Olympics in 2006 that a group formed in Austin to form the Lone Star Curling Club. With extensive television coverage of curling, we should see a surge in the interest in curling. The club plans on probably two open house sessions during and after the Olympics. This should help to recruit new members. We also plan on working with the local media to help generate interest for the club. So pass the word along. It would be great to have more people join our group.
The other recent curling event was the annual Texas Open Bonspiel ( TOB ) which was held in mid April in Houston. As most of you are aware, originally this was to be held here in Austin, but we had to decline as we were unable to make acceptable arrangements with the local rink operator. Three rinks from our club travelled to Houston for this year’s bonspiel.
Robert Rounding and the Houston Curling Club did a great job with this year’s TOB. The bonspiel draw included 22 rinks. The had to deal with some adverse conditions, as heavy rains on Saturday caused flooding which shut down the rink’s ice plant. They were able to work around these problems, although curling at 2:00 AM posed some interesting challenges. The Gary Newgord rink, with Rob, Kelly & Christina, ended up winning the “B” event. My rink, with Karen & Landon, as well as our San Antonio ringer Kathy, wound up in 4th place in the “A” event.
The Austin contingent also had some good times at the bonspiel. The custom of using the club president’s room as the party site was put to good use. Pat may have started a tradition, with her rendition of “Ten Reasons why curling is better than …” (you will have to ask her if you want to know the remainder of the title ). Next year’s TOB will also be held in Houston. I encourage everyone, no matter your skill level, to consider playing.
At the end of March, the club also had its general membership meeting at Zilker Park. After “rousing” campaigning, I was re-elected ( OK, it was by acclamation ) president, and Dennis Dunn was elected vice president for the 2009 / 2010 season. Since then, we have had 2 board meetings, and the following will be the executive and committee coordinators for this season:
Secretary: Christina
Treasurer: Landon
Competition: Rob
Membership: Pat
Special Events: Uly
Communications: Michelle
Front Desk & Logo Shop: Darlene
Feel free to contact any of us if you have questions, concerns, suggestions, etc.
Plans for the new season are well under way. Our play will continue to be on Sunday mornings, from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM. Season startup events include:
Sept. 13 – Intermediate Curling Education session
Sept. 20 – Learn to Curl for new members
Sept. 27 – Regular Season start
Watch your email for more information as we get closer to September.
The major challenge facing the club this season is to grow our membership. When we moved to the new Chaparral Ice facility last season, our hourly rates increased, so each session now costs $450.00. Last season, we had only 6 rinks in our regular draw, and ended up loosing about $1000 on ice fees ( i.e.: we paid out more than we took in ). With 4 sets of rocks, we could easily accommodate more curlers each Sunday. This would help so that we could break even on the cost of the ice.
The major factor this year is the Winter Olympics, which will be held in Vancouver, BC in February. As some of you are aware, it was after the last Olympics in 2006 that a group formed in Austin to form the Lone Star Curling Club. With extensive television coverage of curling, we should see a surge in the interest in curling. The club plans on probably two open house sessions during and after the Olympics. This should help to recruit new members. We also plan on working with the local media to help generate interest for the club. So pass the word along. It would be great to have more people join our group.
posted by Wayne Garman at
6:10 AM
