Why Are We Curling in August

This week I went against a core principle of mine: I curled in August. 

And I will again.

I spared for a game in the Oakville summer league. The Oakville Curling Club is a beautiful eight-sheet facility that has the benefit of equipment that allows a season start even when the outside temperature is not suited to icemaking. 

This allows Oakville to run summer leagues, and given they are one of the only clubs in the GTA that is open, they are very popular with the area’s competitive curlers.

But it does beg the question… why are we curling in August?

Back in the day, the competitive season would start in mid-September with the Shorty Jenkins ’spiel in Brockville, Ont. (which has since been relocated to Cornwall, just an hour east). The best teams in the world would show up, not having thrown a single curling stone, and play. There would be golf in between curling games. 

It was an ideal way to ease into the season. Then around Thanksgiving, most clubs would install their ice and curling would formally begin.

Now, the season starts in August – and even in July, if you are based out of one of the European training sites that run year round. The Ontario tour is running two events in early September, starting Labor Day weekend in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Don’t get me wrong, I love curling. I am usually itching to start the second the weather starts to get a hint of fall in the air. But do we need to sacrifice the end of our already too-short Canadian summers to play?  

Now we curl in August. If you start in mid-September, it feels like you are a month behind everyone. For those of us who like golf… or sun… or summer, this kinda sucks. 

This year I have more tournaments planned in September and October than I do in November or December. My home club, Leaside CC, is doing some renovations and will only be opening late October this year. So by the time my home club opens, I will have already played FIVE events on tour. I thought curling was supposed to be a winter sport?

It just feels wrong to have to pack both Rub-A535 and sunscreen into my curling bag.