Having grown up in Maryfield, Val Sweeting knows what to expect when she curls in Saskatchewan.
With that said, Sweeting and her Edmonton rink were very impressed with what they saw at the North Battleford Civic Centre during the Pinty鈥檚 Grand Slam of Curling鈥檚 Meridian Canadian Open last week.
鈥淭he crowds for the 8 a.m. draws were fantastic and they were very supportive no matter who鈥檚 playing out there,鈥� Sweeting said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always great support in Saskatchewan and I love curling in my home province.鈥�
The Civic Centre was packed all the way through the tournament, which lasted from Jan. 3 to 8, and was said to be one of best-attended events in tour history.
鈥淭his week exceeded all of our expectations,鈥� Grand Slam of Curling events manager Jennifer Kjell said. 鈥淲e knew that this was going to be a good week here in North Battleford, but this has been fantastic.鈥�
鈥淣othing is set in stone by any stretch, but given the great support we鈥檝e seen here this week, we鈥檒l hopefully be back here in the future.鈥�
Helping with the huge crowds was where the fans came from, with tickets being purchased from various locations in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
鈥淭hat was a pleasant surprise,鈥� Kjell said.
鈥淪askatchewan never disappoints when it comes to these events, but it was nice to see how many people were driving for a couple of hours each day to see this.鈥�
The on-ice product had a number of twists and turns, which was highlighted by an upset win from Lethbridge鈥� Casey Scheidegger on the women鈥檚 side.
鈥淧ersonally, I love seeing the new teams making their way through the ranks,鈥� Kjell said. 鈥淏ut we also had our usual strong teams play well, so it was a nice balance.鈥�
St. John鈥檚 Brad Gushue won the men鈥檚 title.
