The question is just how the sport will look when it comes to, well, pretty much every aspect.
Everything from the number of sweepers to how players will move up and down the ice to whether or not teams will have to wear masks is up in the air based on information released by Curl Sask in their comprehensive 23-page Return to Curling Guidelines, released earlier this week.
The document includes dozens of required and mandatory changes that cover building capacity for both league nights and tournaments, sanitization of everything in the building, strict guidelines for bar and food service, foot traffic control, cleaning protocols and a host of other rules and regulations that will have to be followed if play is to be allowed.
Also included were a host of recommendations that Curl Sask has left up to each club, including the controversial requirement of only one sweeper.
That decision will be left up to each individual facility -- including the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre -- and if in agreement, teams can decide to comply with the Curl Canada single-sweeper directive or go with the usual two sweepers on a game-by-game basis based on their level of comfort with the situation. Under no circumstances will skips be allowed to sweep inside the house, though.
Other recommendations on a club-by-club basis include walking and standing on one side of each sheet, storing all rocks on one side of the ice, social distancing markers on the ice and maintaining social distancing as much as possible when playing.
Ice is being installed in the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre in mid-October, with the facility opening for business on Oct. 19. The club itself is planning to meet in the near future, as early as next week, to go through the guidelines and set up a plan for the coming season.
For a look at the complete document, be sure to click here.
