Following Curling Canada’s announcement yesterday in regards to the Scotties, Brier and a few other events, Curling Quebec is ready to share its plans for the 2021 provincial Scotties and Tankard. We would like to begin by thanking the players who generously contributed to the various Competition Committee meetings and made specific recommendations to our Board of Directors. As previously announced, our priority remains to present some type of provincial championship; however, we are aware that the likeliness of that being a possibility is very slim. Out of respect for all of our competitors and to avoid any exclusions or favouritism, a provincial championship will only be held if every region in the province is in either a green zone or a yellow zone as established by the Quebec government at an upcoming announcement in January.
Unfortunately, we have had to cancel our official Scotties and Tankard events, scheduled to be played in Laval from January 24-31, 2021. A lot of organization and behind-the-scenes work is required ahead of a large event such as this one. The uncertainty of the current situation has made it too difficult to continue with the original plan. We would like to sincerely thank the organizing committee and the city of Laval, who have invested several hours of work into the championship planning. We hope that we will get the opportunity to work with them again soon. In the meantime, we are keeping January 28-31, 2021 on hold as a potential timeslot for a modified provincial championship in a club if the situation in Quebec significantly improves in the new year.
If we cannot hold an event in January, our Quebec Scotties and Brier representatives will be selected through a collaborative effort of our Board of Directors and a specialized Curling Canada committee. Teams will be asked to complete a brief curling resumé upon registration, which will be used by the two committees to make their selection. First, Curling Quebec’s Board of Directors will rank (seed) the teams from strongest to weakest, then Curling Canada’s committee will select one of the top three teams as ranked by CQ. This selection process was proposed to the CQ Board of Directors by a committee formed of players, CQ board members, and CQ staff members, and we thank them for their many hours of dedication to this project.
For a team to be eligible, they must:
- Read the details published by Curling Canada concerning the bubble around the national championship, and agree to their conditions. Please note that Curling Canada will share its complete and detailed protocol soon. The various national championships’ dates will also be finalized and announced as quickly as possible, though everything should be in motion by the second half of February.
- Be available for the entirety of the Canadian championship, including the pre-competition isolation period.
- Be available to participate in a provincial championship from January 28th-31st, 2021.
- Complete the registration form and team resumé by January 8th at 11:59 PM.
- Pay the individual player affiliation fees to CQ and CC (non-refundable $50 per player).
Teams may register at the following link:
https://curlingcanada.formstack.com/forms/scotties_tankard_2021
We have all learned that what holds true one day during this abnormal season may not necessarily be so the next. The situation is complicated for our competitive players, and we want to assure you that we understand and share their frustrations and disappointments. We will do our best to stay on top of any changes that Curling Canada or government officials might announce regarding pandemic developments. We will communicate with you as quickly as possible should we have any relevant information.
For any questions, please contact our Director of Competitions, Alanna Routledge: aroutledge@curling-quebec.qc.ca.
