The Steinbach Curling Club has opted to end any hopes of continuing its season this year.

Club President Denis Vassart says they have decided to pull the plug on the ice plant. The announcement comes days after the province confirmed that curling rinks would not be opening as part of the new public health order that went into effect on Saturday. Vassart says he has mixed feelings on that move by the province.

"I would love to get back to curling and I really miss the sport," admits Vassart. "But in order to be safe, and not have anybody catch COVID at our curling rink, I understand that we shouldn't be opening. It's a mixed reaction, a little bit disappointed but I'm glad they erred on the side of safety."

According to Vassart, their 2020-21 season kicked off back on October 19th. Three and a half weeks later, after no team played more than three games, the season came to an abrupt halt when the province announced Level Red restrictions. Since then, the Executive has discussed potential reopening plans, until Monday night when it was decided once and for all to end the waiting game.

"The ice plant will close on February 1st," says Vassart. "It was rather a disappointing decision to have to make, but financially it doesn't make sense to sit here and maintain the rink and readiness to go and knowing we're not going to be able to go for at least another two weeks, if not a lot longer."

The Steinbach Curling Club rents the facility from the city of Steinbach. Vassart says they make eight payments of $6,100 each. On top of that, they pay their ice maker, plus this year money was spent on enhancements to safeguard against COVID-19. According to Vassart, their annual costs are typically covered through a combination of user fees, sponsorships and rentals.

"We're working on plans to overcome the shortfalls that we've got and hopefully be able to refund a portion of what our curlers have paid," explains Vassart. "Because it's not really fair for them to pay that money and get no games out of it either."

Vassart says even though the curling rink has not seen action since mid-November, that does not mean there is no maintenance to be done. He notes their ice maker must still make sure the ice is ready to go, plus he checks on the plant and overall status of the building.

"He's not shaving ice and reflooding," says Vassart. "But he still has to go in and make sure that it's pebbled and not changing too much."

Looking ahead to next year, Vassart says he is not sure what sort of impact this lost season will have on curling going forward.

"My gut feeling is that we're going to have to work hard to get curlers back to curling, they've had a winter without it," says Vassart. "Our numbers haven't been growing fantastically in the last few years anyway."

Vassart says a big thank you to curlers for their patience this season.