The Royal Canadian Curling Club is a

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

club located in the Riverdale neighbourhood of

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, Canada. The clubhouse on Broadview Avenue was originally built in 1907 by the ''Royal Canadian Bicycle Club'', while the ice arena was added in 1929. In addition to cycling activities, the club had featured

skating Skating involves any sports or recreational activity which consists of traveling on surfaces or on ice using skates, and may refer to: Ice skating *Ice skating, moving on ice by using ice skates **Figure skating, a sport in which individuals, ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

, curling, and

ten-pin bowling Tenpin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler bowling form, rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned Tetractys, evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The goal is to knock down all ten Bowlin ...

, until 1953, when the club decided to focus exclusively on curling activities. Known to its members as ''The Royals'', the club hosts house league draws on evenings from Sunday to Friday as well as Tuesday afternoons. The club also hosts associate leagues including the Riverdale League, the Rotators, and the Insurance Curling League. The club has sponsored winning teams at provincial curling championships. In 1955, Andy Grant won The British Consols, southern Ontario's men's curling championship. This tournament has gone through a number of name changes in its history and is now known as the Ontario Tankard. Mike McEwen won a second provincial title for the club in 2023. Ontario Scott Tournament of Hearts winners include Carol Thompson in 1982 and 1987 and

Hollie Duncan Hollie Duncan (born January 6, 1987, in Toronto, Ontario, as Hollie Nicol) is a Canadian curler. She currently skips her own team on the World Curling Tour. Career Juniors As a bantam-aged curler, Duncan skipped her Unionville Curling Club ri ...

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. In Senior's curling, Jim Sharples has won a number of events including 1992 & 1994 (Joe Todd Sr.), 1998 (T.E. Financial Consultants Ltd.), 1999 (CIBC Seniors), and the Tim Hortons Masters in 2000 and 2003. Bob Wood and Carol Thompson represented Ontario at the Seagram Mixed Tournament in 1977.

History

In 1964 the club hosted the inaugural event of the

Canadian Mixed Curling Championship The Canadian Mixed Curling Championship is the national curling championship for mixed curling in Canada. The winners of the tournament represent Canada at the World Mixed Curling Championship. In mixed curling, the positions on a team must alte ...

. The first championship was won by Ernie Boushy of

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

with a record of 9-1. The club continued hosting the event in 1965.

Governance

The club is governed by a board of directors who are elected by the members of the club. There are currently 6 board members. The club is member owned. New members purchase equity in the club when they start to curl. The equity is returned to the club when they resign as a member. Only active curlers are allowed to hold equity in the club. There are about 400 active curlers. The club employs a general manager, two bartenders, a full-time and a part-time ice maker.

Bonspiels

In 1938, the ''Men's Invitational Bonspiel'' was created. It ran for 27 years before ending in 1964. In 2003, the event was revived. The event is held late March running from Thursday to Sunday. The 2003 event featured Ontario's venerable

Ed Werenich Edward Werenich (born June 23, 1947) is a Canadian curler from Holland Landing, Ontario. Nicknamed "The Wrench," Werenich has been known to be a colourful and outspoken character. Outside of curling, Werenich worked as a firefighter. Career Wer ...

who came a close second in the tournament to the club's own Rob MacKay. In 2009, Ed's son Ryan Werenich skipped the winning team. Other regular events include the ''Turkey Spiel'' in December, ''Curling Night in Canada'' in February, and the women's spiel entitled the ''Royal Flush''. The associate Riverdale League—the oldest and largest gay curling league in Canada, founded in 1962—also holds an annual spiel entitled ''Do It On The Ice''. Riverdale and the Royals have twice hosted the annual Canadian Gay Curling Championship, most recently in 2015, when Toronto curler

John Epping John Allan Epping (born March 20, 1983) is a Canadian curler from Toronto, Ontario. He currently skips his own team out of the Leaside Curling Club in East York, Toronto. Career Junior Men's Born in Peterborough, Ontario, Epping was a top ...

threw the ceremonial first rock.

References

External links

History of the club

Royal Canadian Curling Club

Riverdale & Rotators Curling Leagues
{{Sport venues in Toronto Curling clubs in Ontario Curling clubs established in the 20th century Sports clubs and teams established in 1906 1906 establishments in Ontario Sports venues in Toronto