With Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling just a few months away, excitement is starting to build. This tournament is a little bit different than others that have came through the Border City.
“The City of Lloydminster has hosted major curling events before, we’ve seen many big names here in the past; however, it’s stuck to just a Canadian roster. The unique thing about the Pinty’s Masters is that we get to touch on international teams.” says Lindsay Makichuk, Co-Chair of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling.
She adds, “I think this is going to open up the eyes to Lloydminster, to see we have so much potential here when it comes to a city for hosting major events. This will open the door to new sports that we maybe don’t necessarily see too often.”
Mayor Gerald Aalbers says the event, “brings a lot of energy to the community, strength, it gives the community something to rally around. We’re still not out of the worst of the times in the oil and gas industry, this is a real bright spot.”
Kristi Petrushchak, Manager of the Grand Slam of Curling for Sportsnet, says the tournament also looks to make an impact on the community.
“One of our goals from a Grand Slam perspective is to ensure that we give back as much as we can to the community, that’s why we have the Junior Grand Slam program, Future Rocks program, trying to build sports within Sportsnet.”
With pre-trials and Olympic trials coming up this tournament is important for the players. Olympic gold medalist Kevin Martinsays “it’s going to be a lot of people, a lot of energy and very serious. The players will be a little bit more serious than I guess you’d normally see out of them, simply because they need to peak here, by the next slam it’s too late. This is where they have to find their stride.”
Tickets are on sale online, they are about 50% sold at this point. The tournament takes place from October 24-29.