As Eastern Washington University, and Cheney, prepare to foist themselves on the national stage hosting the upcoming USA Curling National Championships some questions may come to mind.
Among them:
Just what the heck is curling and how is it played?
And how did the event that will help determine Team USA for future World Championships land in Cheney and EWU?
From Feb. 8-15 at EWU’s University Recreation Center (URC), the top competitors in the U.S. will put on a clinic that can answer the first query.
According to a Jan. 16 news release from the sponsoring Spokane Sports Commission, seven women’s teams and nine men’s teams had qualified for the event, with one spot remaining for each gender. Among those competing are 2018 gold medalists John Shuster, Matt Hamilton and John Landsteiner.
“We are excited to be bringing these championships to Spokane [Cheney], not only because we are confident it will be a world-class event, but also because we constantly strive to help curling thrive in new areas around the country,” Rick Patzke, chief executive officer of USA Curling said back in 2018 when the host city was announced.
Some people are still quite mystified that one of four permanent regulation skating rinks in the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene metroplex happens to be in Cheney. The URC, which opened in 2008, is a facility EWU students supported in a referendum that authorized charging activity fees to build it.
Cheney and EWU beat out Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the honor. The 2019 nationals took place in Kalamazoo, Mich. EWU also bid on that event.
Working in conjunction with the Spokane Sports Commission, when Eastern had bid on hosting the 20019 event, URC operations manager Jamie Gwinn said, “Last year, together, we bid on the 2018 mixed-doubles curling national championships. They just had a little hesitation bringing an event someplace that had not hosted curling before.”
USA Curling was impressed enough to say, “We want to see you guys back in this mix again,” Gwinn added.
Taking a second trip down the road, Gwinn said they knew what to expect.
“We scoped out some facilities that had hosted before,” he said, adding, “We really did our homework, we hit this one out of the ballpark this time.”
Past experience being part of big events, such as the 2008 and 2010 National Figure Skating Championships that took place in Spokane, was a plus to the bid. “We knew what it involves to basically ‘wow people,’” Gwinn said.
The URC has seating for 1,000, but Gwinn said if needed they can add capacity on the ice since the rinks — or the lanes that contain targets known as “houses” — do not take up the entire surface. There will be five lanes that measure 150 feet by 16 feet, 5 inches wide on the 200-foot by 85-foot ice surface.
The 2020 World Women’s Championship will take place in Canada while the 2020 World Men’s Championship heads to the sport’s home country — Scotland.
Paul Delaney was a Cheney Free Press reporter from 2007-2018 and is now retired.
Reader Comments(0)