Registered: Mar 2005
Location: St. Albert
Posts: 839

Was talking to a friend the other day who missed playdowns last year for the first time. He suspects with the new broom requirements, playdown numbers will dwindle even further below recent years. The cost of brooms and heads could start to match the price for an all inclusive Mexican holiday.

Is the term "zones" going to disappear completely?

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Registered: Jul 2004
Location: kitchener
Posts: 147

id say the term "zone playdowns" is now dead. its all qualifiers now. with Ontario use to having 16 old zones, now has 3 qualifiers in the u21 category. as for entries we all know they are dropping. last year entires for u-21 girls were about 36, some regions were even short at 7. going to 3 qualifiers this year entries were a whooping 23 that less then a 8 team avg per qualifier. id say we will see this tread across all events. with the reduction of money for teams and increased entry fees will see it get worse before better.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: vernon bc
Posts: 2340

Zones aren't going anywhere soon Milo. There's still a simple logistical need for some sort of regionalization in most provinces.

Costs, however, continue to go up and yes, that does have a negative impact on the decision to play competitively. When you don't, like BC, have a provincial tour to support and promote play in local events and encourage teams to participate with provincial berths for the top teams, you really are putting your own game in the hole.

Sadly, after a few years of the bleeding stopping in entries, Curl BC still refuses to create a simple tour for the men and women of our province. I have little doubt that entries will now start to drop again because no one will take proactive steps to improve the situation.

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Registered: Nov 2004
Location:
Posts: 219

Curling has fully evolved the last few years. It's a well-known fact, that there are far more people watching the sport... by a long shot, than those that are actually playing it.

It has nothing to do with brooms or cost. It has to do with the fact that the slam tour has produced an international level of play that the average club recreational curler can no longer compete in. The days of Joe Blow coming out of his home club to compete in a national event or an elite tour event is over.
That's not a bad thing. It's just a fact.

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Registered: Apr 2014
Location: In the House
Posts: 608

quote:

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Originally posted by CURLING NUTS
Curling has fully evolved the last few years. It's a well-known fact, that there are far more people watching the sport... by a long shot, than those that are actually playing it.

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Last edited by On The Nose on 11-14-16 at 02:00AM

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: vernon bc
Posts: 2340

I think someone kicked Curling Nutz in his nuts. Every competitive curlers starts as Joe Blow from the club. Because that's where you learn the game.

And that's the real fact.

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When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Hunter S. Thompson

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Registered: Nov 2004
Location:
Posts: 219

You missed my point dude.
You likely haven't been around long enough to remember or realize that mainstream curlers/teams, used to be able to compete at the national level in the Brier or Scotties. The slam events have put an end to all that.
The slam events have raised curling to a new level. The elite curlers have now embraced conditioning, advanced equipment, sponsorship funding and spend numerous hours competing and practicing. I have noticed that in Ontario competitive teams fall into maybe three categories... the elite, B and C. When was the last time a mainstream B or C team represented a province, won a Brier or Scottie or represented our country at the Olympics? That's one of the main reasons participation in events leading to a National/World championship is so low.
You need to be inclined, you need sponsors, you need the time and you need the elite competition which is almost impossible to get.
So... please don't get your nose hairs all in a knot, I'm stating a very obvious fact.

Last edited by CURLING NUTS on 11-14-16 at 09:11PM

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: vernon bc
Posts: 2340

Haven't been around long enough? LMFAO!

Seriously, I'm laughing so hard at you I can barely type.

Somebody else tell him, too busy howling at this DEEWWWDDD!

__________________
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Hunter S. Thompson

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Registered: Apr 2014
Location: In the House
Posts: 608

quote:

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Originally posted by CURLING NUTS
You missed my point dude.
You likely haven't been around long enough to remember or realize that mainstream curlers/teams, used to be able to compete at the national level in the Brier or Scotties. The slam events have put an end to all that.
The slam events have raised curling to a new level. The elite curlers have now embraced conditioning, advanced equipment, sponsorship funding and spend numerous hours competing and practicing. I have noticed that in Ontario competitive teams fall into maybe three categories... the elite, B and C. When was the last time a mainstream B or C team represented a province, won a Brier or Scottie or represented our country at the Olympics? That's one of the main reasons participation in events leading to a National/World championship is so low.
You need to be inclined, you need sponsors, you need the time and you need the elite competition which is almost impossible to get.

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__________________
"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own... but the great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Registered: Nov 2004
Location:
Posts: 219

quote:

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Originally posted by On The Nose

But wasn't this 'professionalization' of curling rather inevitable? Though it may well be legitimately considered sad, it is simply following the path of every other 'major' sport in separating the professionals (or elite) from the rest.

The separation of the elite from the rest happens in virtually every sport, and yet amateur participation in other sports has not declined to the degree it has in curling.
None of us are going to win the U.S. Open in golf or tennis. In fact, we have no chance of even playing in the U.S. Open. But we still play golf/tennis.

And so perhaps the declining participation in curling is simply because curling is late to the party (of separating the elite from the rest), and it will balance itself out eventually, as it has in the other sports.

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Registered: Nov 2003
Location:
Posts: 29

quote:

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Originally posted by CURLING NUTS
When was the last time a mainstream B or C team represented a province, won a Brier or Scottie or represented our country at the Olympics? That's one of the main reasons participation in events leading to a National/World championship is so low.
You need to be inclined, you need sponsors, you need the time and you need the elite competition which is almost impossible to get.
So... please don't get your nose hairs all in a knot, I'm stating a very obvious fact. [/B]

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Registered: Oct 2004
Location:
Posts: 485

quote:

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Originally posted by jamcan
Haven't been around long enough? LMFAO!

Seriously, I'm laughing so hard at you I can barely type.

Somebody else tell him, too busy howling at this DEEWWWDDD!

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: vernon bc
Posts: 2340

quote:

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Originally posted by Posada

Yeah, that's pretty funny. Did you use a rink rat at the Brier...? I don't quite recall...

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__________________
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Hunter S. Thompson

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