Thursday, March 31, 2011

Weekly poll #12 - What does it cost to curl?

Ernie Comerfod wrote wondering what wheelchair curlers paid to curl. In Ontario, he said, you could not compete in their provincial championships without being a paid-up member of an affiliated curling club.

In London that meant $50 a year, without playing in any of the club's leagues. At the Toronto Cricket and Curling Club, the fees are $1,000 including league play. In Ottawa there's a $10 weekly charge.

In Kelowna signing up for a league costs around $300 with discounts for more than one league, and practice ice is free. When we had a wheelchair program the club donated a sheet for our use so there was no charge for someone to try it out.

So this week's poll question, and the last of this season - how much did you pay in club and affiliation fees to curl last season? Please press the radio button on the right side bar that most closely matches your experience, and add your thoughts and personal experience on costs and payments to the comments below.

1 comment:

Bruce Cameron said...

I would like to clear up the cost to curl in Ottawa. To be a member of the Capital Wheelchair Curling Club the cost is $10 per YEAR. That entitles u to curl once a week. The Capital Wheelchair Curling Club in turn rents three sheets of ice on Saturday afternoon from the RA Curling Club at a cost of approx $2,250.00 for the year. We raise monies through sponsors and a wheel-a-thon to cover our costs.The RA Curling Club is very accommodating for wheelchair curling. Although I said we rent three sheets of ice, we actually only pay for two as nine members of the Capital Wheelchair Curling Club are full members of the RA Curling Club and they treat the third sheet as if it was booked by a member for practice.

Now for those who are competitive curlers the cost is somewhat different. We are full members of the RA Curling Club as well as members of the Capital Wheelchair Curling Club. I will use my costs as an example. I pay $433.07 (taxes in). For that I curl in three RA Curling Club leagues but it gives me the right to curl in as many leagues as I want if I so choose. It also gives me the opportunity to book ice for practice if the ice is available at no additional cost.

Being a member of the RA Curling Club automatically meets the OCA requirement of being a member of an affiliated club to compete in provincial playoffs.

Competition fees, accommodation and travel costs at various events are the largest costs of curling competitively.