Royal Canadian Curling Club
Encyclopedia
| Royal Canadian Curling Club "The Royals" |
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| Founded | 1906 (1953) |
| Sheets | 6 |
| Rock colours | Red and yellow |
| OCA Ontario Curling Association The Ontario Curling Association is the governing body of curling in Southern Ontario. Northern Ontario is governed by the Northern Ontario Curling Association. The OCA sends a team to represent Team Ontario at all major Canadian Championships except the Scott Tournament of Hearts. The NOCF sends a... Zone |
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| Address | 131 Broadview Avenue Toronto Toronto Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from... , Ontario Ontario Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa.... M4M 2E9 |
The Royal Canadian Curling Club, also known as the Royals is a curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
club located in the Riverdale
Riverdale, Toronto
Riverdale is a large neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded by the Don River Valley to the west, Danforth Avenue and Greektown to the north, Jones Avenue, the CN/GO tracks, and Leslieville to the east, and Lake Shore Boulevard to the south....
neighbourhood of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The clubhouse on Broadview Avenue was originally built in 1906 by the Royal Canadian Bicycle Club. In addition to cycling activities, the club has featured skating
Ice skating
Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...
, hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, curling, and five-pin bowling
Five-pin bowling
Five-pin bowling is a bowling variant which is played only in Canada, where most bowling alleys offer it, either alone or in combination with ten-pin bowling. It was devised around 1909 by Thomas F. Ryan in Toronto, Ontario, at his Toronto Bowling Club, in response to customers who complained that...
. In 1953, 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 TSC Tankard. In 1982 and 1987 Carol Thompson won the Ontario Scott Tournament of Hearts
Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts is the Ontario provincial curling championship for women's curling. The winning team represents the province at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts....
. 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 ChampionshipCanadian Mixed Curling Championship
The Canadian Mixed Curling Championship is the national curling championship for mixed curling in Canada. It is considered as the highest level of mixed curling in the world, with the absence of a World Championships. However, a...
. The first championship was won by Ernie Boushy of Winnipeg, Manitoba 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, and two cooks. There is one full-time and two part-time ice makers.
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 WerenichEd Werenich
Edward Werenich is a Canadian curler. Nicknamed "The Wrench," Werenich has been known to be a colourful and outspoken character. Outside of curling, Werenich worked as a firefighter....
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 also holds an annual spiel entitled Do It On The Ice.