Below, you will find tips and hints to help you host your own Curlers Care 2-4 Support Our Troops Bonspiel.
We are also happy to provide personalized support and guidance, to ensure your event is a SUCCESS! Just contact us.
Form a Committee
A dedicated team of organizers is essential to a successful Curlers Care 2-4 Support Our Troops Bonspiel. The enthusiasm and motivation of committed leaders is contagious!
Publicize to Members and Non-members
Spread the Word through:
- Posters – sent to curling clubs, military bases and other interested organizations. (sample poster)
- Brochures – sent as a follow-up or alternate promotion (sample)
- Invitations – sent to club members.
- Entry forms – sent to any person or company who indicated an interest in the Spiel. (sample)
Make copies of entry forms and pledge sheets available online. Contact us to have your own page on this site.
Team Participation
The recommended format calls for pools of 8 teams each.
We recommend that entry forms include the draw times and ask teams to give the name of their team.
Pledges
The focus of the event is to raise money for the Military Family Resource Centres. This can be achieved many ways, including:
- NO entry fee, but minimum pledge requirement.
- Higher entry fee, with proceeds going to the Fund.
- Encourage pledge collecting by offering incentives/prizes for top fund raisers.
- Sponsorships (promotional materials, meals, pools)
- Silent Auction
- Donations
Create Pools
Arrange each pool to comprise 8 teams, which play off in an 8 team format. Pools can be colour-coded to make it easier for keeping pools and times straight. Organizers may also consider creating team name cards, posted on matching coloured poster paper, for placing in the boards above each sheet of ice.
Opening Ceremonies
A sample Schedule of Events:
Teams are piped in by a piper.- Following them in the parade, are a Colour Party, visiting members of the Canadian Forces, veterans, members of the local Air Cadet Squadron, sponsor representatives, and other guests.
- A Toast to the Piper.
- Singing of O’ Canada.
- Special tribute from a padre.
- Greetings/statement from a representative from the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services.
- The throwing of the ceremonial first rock.
Meals
During a multi-day bonspiel, offered dining may include:
- A beer and wings night, or other pre-event social.
- A lunch during the event (after the opening ceremonies, perhaps).
- A dinner after the first round.
Meals may be offered for a charge, or free of charge, or in combination (eg. free for participants and veterans, but charge for guests). Sponsors may be solicited to defray meal costs.
Event
Arrange each pool to comprise 8 teams, which play off in an 8 team format, with no sweeping.
Winners of the first matches go on in the Main Event and losers continue to the Second Event.
If teams lose their second game, they can continue to play until the Finals.
Curlers Care promotes a format where there are no losers. All teams in a pool win an event or are runner-up in that event.
Every pool can have a sponsor, which is recognized with a logo or a picture on schedules, posters, etc. Pool sponsors may also cover the cost of the winning teams’ shirts, embroidered with the Curlers Care logo.
At the end of the pool competition, each pool’s winning team returns to the ice for a ‘Draw to the Button’ (points awarded to each team member based on how close they are to the pin) for the right to be proclaimed Champions of the 2-4 Bonspiel.