Curling Canada confident Calgary bubble will work
CALGARY — On the surface, Calgary might look like a bit of an odd choice to host a series of major curling events throughout the early months of 2021.
Curling Canada believes that, despite ever-rising COVID-19 case numbers in Alberta, it can safely host the four championships it announced will be taking place at WinSport next year.
Officials have reason to feel confident.
On Tuesday, the Curling Canada announced it will be creating a “bubble” in Calgary that will keep athletes isolated at a hotel and at WinSport for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Tim Hortons Brier, Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and the World Men’s Curling Championship.
It’s an ambitious plan, especially in a province that reported 1,307 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
When used in other sports, the bubble format has proven extremely effective at limiting the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
“The second wave we’re into … the numbers in Alberta are concerning, so that’s something we’re following closely,” said Dr. Robert McCormack, medical director for the Canadian Olympic Committee. “We’re working closely with not only the provincial health officers but federally with the Public Health Agency of Canada, as far as it relates to things like the men’s world championships.
“It is a moving target and we have to have some flexibility, but we are confident that what we’re doing is making sure the public is not put at risk at all. That’s one of the advantages of a bubble, really, the curling community is taking on the risks and (implementing) very high standards to make sure that it is a safe environment, but there are not going to be any interactions with the general public in Alberta, so the risk to them is essentially zero or negligible.”
Organizers for the events
are relying on knowledge gained by the NBA and NHL after both leagues managed to complete their 2019-20 seasons using bubble formats.
The NBA’s bubble took place in Florida, where COVID-19 was spreading rapidly. No players tested positive, suggesting that isolating your competition from the general population is an effective way of eliminating risk.
And while protocols for the curling bubble will continue to evolve before the competition kicks off at the Markin MacPhail Centre, Curling Canada has released a set of rigorous preliminary rules.
The venue will be separated into red, blue and green zones, with green representing people who have access to the field of play, such as players. Anyone in the Green Zone will have to stay in a single room at a hotel where they, and they alone, will be allowed to enter or leave.
Anyone in the Green Zone will also need to provide a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours before their flight to Calgary or driving to the competition, and they will be tested on the day they arrive and five days later.
As you’d expect, indoor mask-wearing and social distancing will be mandatory.
“We’ve built on the models that have already demonstrated success, including the NHL and NBA and a number of national teams,” McCormack said “It will be a combination of strategies. Certainly, it will be minimizing risk for people coming into the bubble by making sure they self-isolate to the highest level of standards that are advised by the provincial health officers, for at least a week or so before they enter the bubble.
“By keeping the bubble tight and minimizing external contacts, in fact, avoiding all external contacts for the people inside that field-of-play bubble – what we’re calling the Green Zone – by being able to keep that tight, we’re optimistic that that will be a safe environment.”
Players in the men’s and women’s national championships are determined through provincial curling championships. Should provincial curling bodies be unable to hold championships, those provinces may have to send last year’s winner to the bubble in Calgary.
As defending Canadian champions, Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson is already in the field for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue has a berth secured in the Tim Hortons Brier.
Many of the curlers will look to play in more than one event, such as the men’s or women’s and mixed doubles championships, in order to take maximum advantage of the bubble format. Many teams will have to quarantine on both ends of their trip to Alberta just to be able to participate.
There’s also hope that there will be two Grand Slam of Curling events played in the same location after the Curling Canada events. Those could be announced at a later date by Rogers Sportsnet, which owns the Grand Slam Tour.
“It wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to justify that for one week of curling,” Gushue said. “But the fact that there’s some mixed doubles and potentially other events at the end, that’s appealing.”