Scotties shaping up to be a success: Curling Canada

With ticket sales and volunteer signups strong, the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts is shaping up to be a success, organizers said.

The annual national women's curling championship is set to take place from Jan. 28 to Feb. 6 at Thunder Bay's Fort William Gardens, with the winning rink going on to represent Canada at the Women's World Curling Championship.

"This is a curling community," Marcy Hrechkosy, Scotties event manager with Curling Canada, said during a visit to Thunder Bay on Wednesday. "I think we're going to get really good support from the community."

"So far, the host committee is super involved and eager," she said. "The volunteers are signing up despite hesitations with the restrictions. People want to be a part of it."

Renovations — including the installation of a new video scoreboard — are proceeding well at the gardens, Hrechkosy said.

"This is an older building, but I think it's got a lot of charisma," she said. "It's going to have a lot of charm once we've set the stage with the curling ice in, and dress it up."

"I think it's got everything we need here to pull off a successful event."

More volunteers are needed, but ticket sales so far are strong; currently, full event and championship weekend tickets are available, while tickets for the opening weekend and individual games will be available starting in October.

And, Hrechkosy said, the safety of spectators, athletes and volunteers is the priority, but organizers still hope to have a packed house at the Scotties.

"The most practical way to go about it is to plan for a full event and then scale back as needed, because things change so quickly with restrictions and limitations and and policies," she said. "Our events across Canada are all planning to be at full capacity, and then we have some time and we can adjust as needed as it gets closer."

Tickets are available online.