PALMERSTON – The Palmerston Curling Club is hosting the Provincial Elementary Spiel, an annual provincial curling event, at the Palmerston Arena in April 2025 but needs sponsorships, including support from Minto council heant to help keep it affordable.
Delegating during a Minto council meeting Tuesday evening, club president Chrissie Schneider asked the town for in-kind support for community centre facility and arena use during the three-day event to keep the cost affordable for the over 250 kids from grades one to eight anticipated to attend.
This would include arena ice surface access starting March 29, 2025 and exclusive access to the Palmerston Community Centre kitchen and change rooms during the event from April 3 to 6, 2025.
The team also intends to "transform the arena surface" into a four-sheet competition-style ice surface in addition to the club's existing four.
"This event provides a stepping stone and opens doors of opportunity for young curlers to further curling opportunities, competitions and competitive play," said Schneider, during the meeting.
Palmerston curling graduate and current Guelph curler, Tori Zemmelink, whose team competed at the WFG Canadian Junior Cup in Oshawa in 2023 and the Swiss Junior Cup in Switzerland earlier this year also spoke about the importance of the event both for herself and other young players during the meeting.
"From my experience, it is the community-run events that have the largest impact on youth starting their competitive journey," said Zemmelink. "The support they receive here is what is going to foster their motivation to learn and succeed in the game."
Council approved a motion for staff to return with a report on the feasibility of sponsorship at a future meeting.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
