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DW-Editorial

A little more than four months ago, when the Estevan Curling Club announced its intention to submit a bid to host the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts national women's curling championships, they put the onus on us, the community, to step up and prove we wanted to have the prestigious event here.

The committee asked us to step forward and place a down payment of $100 on event passes, with the goal of having 1,000 such commitments. If we get the Scotties, those down payments will be directed towards the purchase of the tickets; if we don't, the money is refunded.

The number of passes sold hasn't been disclosed, and there is still a little bit of time to show your support, but people have been stepping forward, and Estevan has a reputation for being a last-minute community, so there should be a hearty number of down payments. 

If you are able to place a down payment, and you haven't done so already, please do it.

Because we're a smaller market that is ambitiously trying to bring this event here, we have to go that extra mile to prove we want the Scotties in 2026. It's one thing for the committee to say we want the Scotties here, but Curl Canada has to know we want it. 

We actually have a lot going for us. We have an incredible venue in Affinity Place. It might not be as large as other event centres that have hosted the Scotties, but it seats 2,662 for hockey, so the atmosphere should be great in a more intimate setting.

We have the hotels to host the event as well. We've had some large events in town that have brought a lot of people here. They didn't draw the spectators that the Scotties would, but it's not like we'll have to be sending people to stay in Weyburn hotels, either.

And we know we have the people to pull this off. When we have hosted marquee events in the past, we have always had the volunteers. If the eyes of Canada's curling community are turned to us, we're going to make sure everyone knows what a great community Estevan has.

The Scotties is a very well-known sporting event in Canada. All of the games are broadcast on TSN for the 10 days of the event. The national final has drawn millions of viewers in the past. On a draw-by-draw basis, it likely has the most attention of any women's curling event in the world. It's also the deepest in terms of the number of outstanding teams that have a realistic shot at winning. It's not hard to envision the impact this event would have on Estevan.

If Estevan were to be awarded the Scotties, it would be the biggest sporting event ever for the city. We've had events with more athletes here, such as the 1980 and 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games, and the 2022 Centennial Cup national junior A hockey championship. But they don't have the national prominence of the Scotties.

With the athletes, coaches, officials, spectators and others coming here, that's big money for the community.

In Estevan, we punch above our weight when it comes to hosting big events. We could go through the lengthy list, or we could remind you of the stellar job we did with the 2016 Summer Games and the 2022 Centennial Cup. We can mention how we were the first city to turn a profit on the Western Canada Cup junior A hockey tournament in 2016, and how we've hosted several great baseball events in recent years. Why? Because that's what we do.

So, if you're still on the fence, wondering if you should support this event, this is why. Much like with the Summer Games and the Centennial Cup, we all stand to gain if Estevan hosts the Scotties.