Looking ahead to Swift Current... and back to Vernon

It was announced today by the World Curling Federation and the Canadian Curling Association that the 2010 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship will be held in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, March 20-28.

Where is Swift Current? It's west of Moose Jaw heading towards Medicine Hat. The twelve-country Worlds will be played at the Credit Union i-plex, a hockey arena complex which underwent a $15 million renovation in 2007. There are lots of pics of the renovations here, on the Swift Current Broncos site where the photo above is from. The arena will seat approximately 2,400 for the championship, and has a number of corporate suites. There is also a six sheet curling rink in the complex.

The full press release can be found on the CCA website here.

The problem for some of us here in Scotland of course is that we find it hard to look forward to a future women's world event when we are still looking back at what happened in Vernon! I'm sure no-one needs reminded of the story, but if you do, you can find what I've written about it on Curling Today. Start here and here. Or from another source here. It is an issue which at the time made Scotland the laughing stock of the curling world, and the indecent time it has taken to conduct an investigation, to find out what really happened and to ensure that such a thing never happens again, has not done anything to improve the reputation of our governing body. Please, let's get this resolved, for everyone's sake.

I have some information today, little though it is! The investigation is ongoing apparently, in the hands of lawyer Michael Nicholson. The lack of hard information coming from the Royal Caledonian Curling Club is frustrating. But it seems to be common knowledge according to some recent posts on the Scottish Curling Forum that there has been a delay caused by .... who knows for sure?

This afternoon, I asked Colin Grahamslaw, the Royal Club CEO, if there was any progress to report. He was not in a position to give details (yes, there is still a media blackout in place) but he assured me that Michael Nicholson will produce a report, although as yet there is no timescale. Grahamslaw offered 'within a month'. Let's hope so!

Now, the Royal Club has made a big thing of the Board Chairman, Bob Tait, getting out and talking to members. The first Q&A session is at Aberdeen this Friday evening, to which all members have been invited, see here. I wonder if anyone will ask about the Vernon enquiry?

Oh, and don't forget, the first rounds of this season's Columba Cream Scottish Women's Championship are this Saturday at Curl Aberdeen. The draw is here.