Closed until January 2021

 As you are no doubt aware, Murrayfield has announced that it will be closed for Curling until January 2021 - see their notice, below.

It is our club's intention to Play the Trophy, Thirds and Shots competitions in Jan-Apr, using existing ice, where possible and run as single round robins (as opposed to double round robins).  All other games ie.  Points, Pairs, Bonspiels, Pres v Vice etc. will be cancelled for this season.  

We await to hear about Province and External Competitions etc.

Further news will appear on this website, including info on ice refunds, when the information comes to hand.

For any urgent information, please contact Graeme. 

Murrayfield Curling Limited 
Edinburgh Curling Club

It is with considerable regret that we, Murrayfield Curling Ltd, after consultation with Edinburgh Curling Club, have made the decision to suspend curling at Murrayfield until the end of December.

This decision became inevitable after full consideration of the details emanating from the Scottish Government’s announcement on Thursday 29th October.

For some weeks, we have been awaiting the outcome of lobbying of the Scottish Government by Scottish Curling with the assistance of SIRA (Scottish Ice Rink Association) to classify us as an indoor individual exercise activity, given the extensive efforts that we, along with all curling rinks in Scotland, have introduced to create as safe an environment as that required for individual adult exercise in gyms. To date we have not been successful and as result of the requirements of the Government’s Tier 3 conditions we as a sport are limited to group exercise for under 18s only. It is unfortunate for those members below the age of 18 that they are denied access, because self evidently the economics of running an ice rink for that age group only, are not sustainable.

Despite the hope that Edinburgh City, at the date of the next review on 9th November, may be reclassified as a Tier 2 local authority, which would remove the above over 18s restriction, there is no guarantee of that being the outcome. In any event, when taken along with the fact that travel from other local authority areas that we draw our membership from, with a higher Tier status, would not be allowed, it becomes enormously uncertain how many of our members would actually be able to curl. Waiting to see if matters would improve whilst continuing to incur costly levels of expenditure to maintain the ice is not a viable option and so we felt we had no option but to take the above decision.

Over the coming weeks, we will be evaluating the evolving situation with the possibility to start curling in January 2021 and we will advise you of our plans nearer that date. Those plans will be influenced by the willingness of Clubs to attempt to reschedule games already lost (and to be lost between now and December) and our ability to find ice times to match demand. We will be in touch with club secretaries over the coming days to discuss how they wish to proceed.

Curling Postponed - again

Due to recent government announcements, Murrayfield (curling) will remain closed until at least 9th November.

Further announcements will follow as information becomes available.

Curling Update

 

We now know that Murrayfield Curling will remain closed for a further week.  

It is now expected to reopen on Monday 2nd November 2020.

Most of the games lost by the first two weeks of shutdown have now been rescheduled although one of these is now postponed due to the extra week !

Please check the revised syllabus on the fixtures tab.

ALSO NOTE :- we now have a member that is shielding and have had to reintroduce a ROTA.  Details are also on the Fixtures page.  PLEASE check when YOU are playing on the ROTA

PLEASE CHECK YOUR GAMES CAREFULLY.  THIS SITE WILL HAVE THE MOST UP TO DATE SCHEDULES.

Start - Stop

 More news on rescheduled games will be announced - at some stage !

Season 2019-20 Now Complete

When the shots Competition was curtailed last season, Team Callander was in a commanding position, with the silverware theirs to lose.  Team Good, with a very 'good' performance could still take possession of the Aberlady Medal.

Six months after the original game should have been played, the skips, like The Avengers assembled.  Would Dale and his squad maintain the high standard from last season, or would they bottle it ?  When they took to the ice, Dales team looked confident.  This could have something to do with John's team abandoning him !  Unfortunately, not enough players arrived to play this fixture, the game was therefore forfeit  and Team Callander took the clean sweep of trophies.

Last season, Sandy Nicoll was the first member to take the clean sweep of all four major trophies.  This has now been replicated with the victorious Dale Callander, David Wyllie, Rosie Clark and Pam Clark.  (Rosie was also a joint winner of the Pairs High Road and new Gill Daley Achievement Trophy, while Pam walked away with the Ladies Points Trophy.  David also took the Thirds Medal)

Congratulations again to one and all for a momentous season.

President V Vice 2019-20

 

Six months late and  under the new 'THIS is the new normal' regime,

a confused bunch were shepherded onto the ice by the Covid Officer to settle last season's (but not last year's) President v Vice President.

This yielded two very different games.  

Julia (for the President) was involved in a close tussle with Dale which resulted in a 6 - 4 victory for the Vice President.  Meanwhile John G (for the President)  was struggling against last season's (this year's) wooden spoon holder, Mike.  John eventually managed to pick up a three in the final end, to go down by 12 - 3.

Overall, a win to Rosie Clark, The Vice President by a total of 18 - 7.  The President, Pam Clark, was absent from the game and has, so far, declined to return the trophy.

Meantime under cover in the car park and darkened doorways, Graeme presented various winners with their trophies, in a very clandestine way. 

The first photo is John Good posing with the Pairs trophy which was eventually given to his partner Cathy Maclean.  The second is our new Gill Daley Achievement Trophy being received by Justyna Konowrocka, which was awarded to her jointly with Rosie Clark.

Swan Trophy

This season we have entered the Swan Trophy.

I have included the draw, which sees us pitched against Oxenfoord on Thursday 26th Nov at 2.30pm and updated the syllabus accordingly.  Both can be found on the Fixtures Tab.

This is a double rink competition, meaning we require 8 players.  To date, we only have four (Mike, Graeme, John G and Pauline).  If you would like to play please let Mike know asap.

Session Times - and yet more Covid info

 The session times on the syllabus (Fixtures tab) have now been updated to give the CORRECT times based on Murrayfield's allocation of 'stagger times'

PLEASE AMEND YOUR DIARY ACCORDINGLY.

Please note that there is some conflicting information for the new 'sweeper rules'.  We previously stated that the designated sweeper (one only per stone) would sweep between the hog lines only.  New information suggests that they sweep from the delivery hog line all the way to the tee line.  As there is no sweeping allowed behind the tee, the skips (lazy) will take no part in active sweeping.

THIS POINT WILL BE CLARIFIED BEFORE THE FIRST GAME.

Scottish Curling have provided a short video on new arrangements (NB Parts of this may be varied based on individual ice rinks facilities) :-

https://youtu.be/iGc7OrCqn-U

Updates 7-9-20

Please note that the following updates have been made :-

• Covid Risk Assessment updated to reflect Murrayfield Guidelines.
• Curl Edin's - Return to Curling Protocols has been added to the Covid Tab
• Dates (but not draw or times) for Swan Trophy have been added to Syllabus
• President v Vice Pres teams added to Syllabus
  

 

Covid-19 Return to Curling

As required by SportScotland, the club has made the following appointment

COVID OFFICER -  GRAEME MAGUIRE. 

If you have any queries please contact Graeme. This also means that in the event of an outbreak the Covid Officer will be the first point of contact by the authorities, particularly in respect of Track & Trace.

We have added a Covid-19 tab to our website.  On this you will find ESSENTIAL information about returning to curling.  Included on the page are:-

• Club Risk Assessment.
• NHS Covid Symptom Chart (also below)
  

This must be read by ALL members prior to attending any curling session.  This will be updated as guidelines from Scot Gov, SportScotland, Scottish Curling, Murrayfield Curling are issued. (Updates will be marked)

It is particularly that score cards are fully completed with FULL names (Christian & Surname), Date, Time, Sheet number and passed to the Covid Officer immediately - either in person of electronically (photograph and email/WhatsApp).  NB. The person responsible for the card should complete the above info at the start of the session as it will also be photographed for Track & Trace purposes by Murrayfield.

 

Provisional Syllabus

The Provional Ice allocation has now been released by Murrayfield.  Our Provisional syllabus can be found on the Fixtures Tab.

Due to Social Distancing Rules adjacent sheets will have start times staggered by 30 minutes.  We have not yet been informed which 'stagger' we will be allocated on which dates.  Actual start times should be either as stated on our syllabus or 30 minutes later.  The syllabus will be corrected when we are informed.

As previously announced the ice for our 'Knockout' competition has been reallocated to allow last seasons games to be completed.  Please note that the teams for the President v Vice 2019/20 and the Shots Decider 2019/20 are/will be listed in the left hand panel of the syllabus.  The SKIPS should ensure that all the players are aware and that they will have full teams.

Other Covid related information for players will follow.

New Member update

We are very pleased to announce that Ian Campbell will be joining our club for the season.  Ian curled when he was a student but has not tested himself for over a decade.  He is keen to re-establish past glories and will be joining Dale's and David Wyllie's rinks.

House Cleaning - Updates and the C Word

Due to the Covid closure of the ice rink last season, we have some outstanding games.  The committee has decided that the Knockout Competition for season 20/21 will be cancelled and the ice slots used for The outstanding President v Vice President game, which will open our season followed by the concluding Shots Competition between Dale and John Good.  Dale has a sizeable lead but can still be caught.

Due to many uncertainties over the coming season our playing roster has 'slimmed down' resulting on only 4 rinks for the coming season.  It has been decided that the Trophy Competition AND the Thirds Competition will be decided by a double round robin. The Shots Competition will remain a single round robin.

There will be many safety changes at Murrayfield this season.  These are subject to change before the season starts.  Some of these changes as as follows:-

Start Times - session times will start at different times on different sheets, adjacent sheets will commence 30 minutes apart, ie sheets 1,3,5 & 7 will start at the same time, while 2, 4 & 6 will start 30 minutes later.

Changing rooms - Please arrive dressed to go curling (with the exception of shoes) as there may not be changing facilities.

One Way -  There will be a one way system with separate entrance/exit doors.

Payments - ALL payments will be via your membership card - No cash payments.

Cafe/Bar - We are unsure what extent these will be available.

Playing - It is probable that there will only be one sweeper per stone, with sweepers restricted to BETWEEN the hog lines. (Skips will sweep, if they can be bothered, from the hog.  No sweeping of opposition stones)

Face Coverings - It has not yet been decided if face coverings will be required on ice, but should be worn elsewhere.  Further info when it has been received.

Update

With two games of the regular season left, the positions are becoming clear:-
Shots Competition:
Team Julia would appear to be stuck mid table and destined to remain there. Teams Wood and Maguire are battling out last place.  If Mike can win his last game he is likely to pull ahead of Graeme and save himself a wooden spoon.  The John Good Rink seem to have a clear lead BUT their last game of the season is against the 'Team of the Year' ie Dale.  If Dale can win by more then 4 shots, he will earn his crew another steak Pie.
Peter Allan Shield:
Team Callander have already secured the victory CONGRATULATIONS to Dale, David Wyllie, Pam & Rosie Clark (no relation), while their poor start to the season has condemned team Wood to the relegation slot.  With only two games left, all the other positions are also all locked in.  Well done to Julia for coming second in her first season as skip.  Team Good are third and the Maguire Rink finish fourth.
Overall, it has been a difficult season for some of our members.  Never the less, there have been many enjoyable moments on and off the ice.
Can everyone remember the President v Vice game on the 2nd April which will be followed by out AGM and supper.

Two in a Row

David Wyllie continued his stunning form by winning his second Aberlady Trophy in a week.
David and his team of Mike Wood, Alasdair Robertson and John McOmish took on the league leaders, Team Niven, in a top of the table, winner take all clash, in the Thirds competition.  After a disappointing night for the Niven Squad, Dave and his merry men came out decisive 10 - 3 winners, to lift the trophy and secure their steak pies !

What do Points Make ..........

Points make Prizes !
On a night of tricky ice (otherwise known as an excuse for low scoring) and only the regulation 9 exercises undertaken, our combatants took to the ice.  With neither of the reigning champs contesting the points, expectations were high.  What I/we were not expecting were two first time winners.  It was tight at the top but David Wyllie held on despite Graeme's late surge, to win by a single point.
In the ladies section, President Pam showed off her new skills, and scored a new high score, giving her the trophy and moving her up several places on the all time leader board.
CONGRATULATIONS to David and Pam !

Province Knockout

Well done to our young team of Julia Mackay, David Wyllie, Justyna Konowrocka and Daniel Peart, who were pitted against a very strong Haddington Rink in the semi-Finals.  Unfortunately in this instance we ended coming second.  (It should be noted that Haddington then went on to win the Final.)

Thirds Competition

Last night, on very quick new year ice the thirds competition got underway with defending champion John Niven taking on Cathy Macleans rink.  This was a tight game all the way with some excellent shots being played by both teams.  The end result, fittingly, was a peel at 5 - 5.

Trophy Competition - Final Results

Congratulations to Team Dale Callander who have taken their second trophy of the season and secured the first Steak Pies.  Dale, ably assisted by David Wyllie, Pam Clark and Rosie Clark lost only 2 games and finished 3 points clear, giving them a great start in the Peter Allen Shield.
Runner-up, also for the second time this season was 'new' skip, Julia Mackey with her lackeys, Stan Howard, John McOmish and a succession of 'rota' players.