Dear Club Managers and Members,
**Please see attached PDF with all the details. We encourage you to share this information with your curling membership.
This Week in Curling!
As clubs wrap up the season and look ahead, this week’s update is packed with opportunities to support your club’s momentum. From education and development opportunities to new webinars, and ways to share your club’s voice and successes, there’s plenty to help set the stage for a strong year ahead.
This week’s focus:
- Summer courses & education opportunities – open for registration!
- Hosting Expressions of Interest (EOIs)
- New Club Development Webinar Series – starting May 11th!
- Why Membership Matters
- Volunteer recognition week – April 19 to 25th!
- Board Development Resources
Opportunities to Ensure Your Club’s Voice Is Heard:
- Curling Alberta Member Club Insights & Feedback Survey
👉Take the Survey Here: Season-in-Review Club Survey
- National Curling Club Survey – Help shape the future of curling clubs!
👉Take the Survey Here: Link to National Survey
Thank you for the continued leadership and momentum you bring to curling in your communities.
🧊 Education & Training Opportunities – Registration Open
Curling Alberta is pleased to share upcoming education offerings for the 2026–27 season. These courses support strong ice operations and coaching capacity within clubs.
Head Ice Technician Course
Assistant Ice Technician Course
Competition Coach Course
Competition Coach Course
Clubs are encouraged to share these opportunities with ice technicians, assistants, and coaches who may be interested in professional development ahead of the next season.
📣 Curling Canada Invitation: Share Your Club’s Story
Curling Canada is inviting curling clubs and communities to help showcase how the sport is growing and thriving in the post‑Olympic landscape. As club leaders, you play a key role in shaping and sustaining curling in your community. Curling Canada is developing four national feature articles in April (beginning after Easter) that will highlight clubs, programs, and individuals who are experiencing growth or using creative approaches to engage new and returning curlers.
They are looking to connect with:
- Clubs experiencing membership growth or increased engagement
- Programs that have successfully built momentum following the Olympics
- Creative initiatives focused on recruitment, retention, or community connection
If your club has a story to tell—or if you know of a club or individual who does—Curling Canada would welcome the opportunity to connect.
You are invited to reach out directly to Veronica Bernard, Member Services Coordinator, Curling Canada at: [email protected]
This is a valuable opportunity to highlight the impact your club is having locally while contributing to a national narrative that supports the growth and visibility of curling across Alberta and Canada.
🏠 Expressions of Interest Now Open – Host a Curling Alberta Event
Curling Alberta is now accepting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from clubs interested in hosting events, competitions, courses, clinics, and programs during the 2026–27 season.
Why Consider Hosting?
Hosting Curling Alberta programming can:
- 💰 Increase local revenue and economic impact
- 🤝 Strengthen community pride and volunteer engagement
- 🥌 Inspire juniors and attract new members
- 👥 Build leadership and hosting capacity within your club
- 📣 Showcase your facility to participants from across Alberta
Hosting opportunities range from grassroots programming to major provincial events, with Curling Alberta staff providing planning and operational support.
👉 Host a Curling Alberta Event – Submit an Expression of Interest
📌 Membership Tracking Fee Spreadsheets — Overdue
Membership is how clubs work together to protect funding, advocacy, and the future of curling. Through provincial membership, clubs are connected to the funding, representation, and shared resources that support participation, safety, development, and the long‑term sustainability of curling in Alberta.
Thank you to the clubs that have already submitted their Membership Tracking Fee Spreadsheet — your cooperation is appreciated. For clubs that have not yet submitted, please note that these spreadsheets are now overdue.
This annual data collection is a mandatory funding requirement of the Government of Alberta for all provincially recognized sport organizations. The information provided is essential to Curling Alberta’s ability to:
- meet compliance and reporting obligations
- advocate effectively on behalf of member clubs
- sustain provincial funding for the sport
📧 Please email completed spreadsheets to: [email protected]
Thank you for your attention to this important requirement and for supporting the broader curling system.
Why Membership Matters
Curling is more than a sport — it is a community. It is one of the few activities where people of different ages, backgrounds, and life stages participate together, building connection, respect, and belonging.
The strength of curling depends on clubs and associations working together within a connected system. While provincial, national, and international visibility may feel distant at the club level, it plays a vital role in maintaining the relevance, credibility, and long‑term health of the sport.
Membership is what makes this system work.
Today’s curling associations do more than run competitions. They steward the broader ecosystem — supporting education, safety, inclusion, development pathways, club services, and long‑term planning. Much of this work happens behind the scenes, but it directly improves consistency, quality, and sustainability for clubs and participants.
Membership contributions represent a shared investment. By pooling resources, clubs enable outcomes no single organization could achieve alone — from coaching and ice technician education to youth and adult programming, advocacy, safety standards, and future‑focused initiatives that keep curling strong and relevant.
Curling endures because we invest in it together — on and off the ice.
🎓 Club Development Webinar Series – Starting on May 11th!
Curling Alberta is currently developing a Club Development Webinar Series designed to support club managers and board members with practical, relevant learning opportunities.
Initial webinar topics in development include:
- Energy Cost Savings for Curling Clubs – coming May 11 (12pm to 1pm)
- Energy costs remain one of the most significant operating expenses for curling clubs. This webinar will focus on practical, experience‑based approaches to managing and reducing energy costs, with insights from industry experts and fellow clubs.
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Effective Use of Curling Management Systems – coming this Spring!
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Curling I/O — Basic Use
Curling I/O provides clubs with a single platform to manage online registrations and payments, organize leagues and competitions, build schedules, and publish results. -
Curling I/O — Advanced Features
Advanced tools include automated team and schedule generation, live scoring, playoff brackets, rental bookings, online waivers, and detailed financial reporting to support efficient club operations
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The Business of Curling: Strategic Planning for Clubs – in development
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Insurance Considerations and Risk Management – in development
These sessions will be offered online and focused on real‑world tools and strategies to support strong, sustainable clubs.
We’d love your input! If there are topics, challenges, or areas of interest you would like to see included in future webinars, please share your ideas with us. Your feedback will help shape offerings that are timely, useful, and responsive to club needs as we move forward.
More details, including dates and registration information, will be shared in upcoming updates.
🙌 Thank You Thursdays!
At Curling Alberta, we want to help clubs recognize the people who make a difference in your curling communities. Volunteers are essential to the success of our clubs and the overall health of the curling system — and their contributions deserve to be celebrated.
If your club is recognizing special volunteers during National Volunteer Week, we invite you to take part in Thank You Thursdays! Share your messages of appreciation on social media every Thursday, starting next week, and tag Curling Alberta so we can help amplify your gratitude and celebrate these individuals across the province. Use: #curlingalberta or @curlingalberta
🌟 National Volunteer Week – April 19–25, 2026
National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to recognize and thank the volunteers who help our clubs and communities thrive. Clubs are encouraged to celebrate volunteers in ways that are meaningful to them. Use: #NationalVolunteerWeek or #ThankYouVolunteers
Looking to recruit or promote volunteer opportunities?
👉 Volunteer Connector: Browse Volunteer Opportunities | Volunteer Connector
🎓 Board Development & Non‑Profit Learning Opportunities – Spring 2026
Spring is an ideal time for clubs to strengthen board effectiveness, volunteer skills, and long‑term planning. The Alberta Community Development Unit is offering a series of free, online webinars relevant to curling club boards, managers, and volunteers.
Highlighted Topics Include:
- Board Roles & Responsibilities
- Role of the Board Treasurer
- Legal & Financial Responsibilities
- Risk Management
- Succession Planning for Non‑Profits
- Grant Writing 101
- Strategic Thinking & Strategic Planning
- Basic Facilitation Skills (4‑part series)
- Demystifying AI for Non‑Profits
🖥️ All sessions are hosted on Zoom and are free to attend.
👉 View the full Spring 2026 schedule and register: Government of Alberta, Community Engagement Branch Events – 23 Upcoming Activities and Tickets | Eventbrite
Additional Self‑Paced Board Resources
The Alberta Non‑Profit Learning Centre also offers excellent tools and courses, including:
- The Nine Principles of Good Governance
- Board governance guides on committees, finances, and grant writing
👉 Explore resources: Non-profit learning centre | Alberta.ca
💵 Individual Curler Fee Update – 2026–2027 Season
Curling Alberta would like to provide advance notice to clubs regarding the Individual Curler Fee for the 2026–2027 season.
✅ The fee will remain unchanged at $22 per individual curler.
Beginning in 2026–2027, the Individual Curler Fee will adopt a new name: the Alberta Curling Development Fee (CDF). This terminology aligns with Curling Canada and better reflects the purpose of the fee: to strengthen and sustain the entire system of curling in Alberta and across Canada.
The CDF supports essential services and programming at every level of the sport, including:
- club‑level resources, training, and operational supports
- provincial development initiatives, education, programming, and competitions
- national systems, programs, and curler services
Together, these investments help ensure a healthy, connected, and sustainable curling system—one that benefits clubs, curlers, volunteers, and communities.
Please note that the membership year for curling in Canada is July 1 to June 30.
For more information on how this fee supports clubs and the broader curling system, please visit:
👉 Membership Benefits | Curling Alberta
👉 Membership Benefits | Curling Alberta
📋 Curler Participation Definitions (Aligned with Curling Canada)
Curling Canada has established consistent participation definitions to support shared understanding, accurate reporting, and reliable data collection across the country. Full details and definitions are available on our website at: Membership Benefits | Curling Alberta
💰 Grant Opportunities for Curling Clubs
Clubs are encouraged to check this page regularly, as new funding opportunities are added throughout the season.
These grants are designed to support club development, programming, and growth initiatives that strengthen curling at the community level.
Wishing you all the best as you continue your spring planning. Thank you for the commitment, care, and leadership you bring to curling in Alberta—it truly makes a difference.
Warm regards,