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CurlingZone : Powered by vBulletin version 2.2.6 CurlingZone > Chat Forums > Location Specific & Regional Tour Chat > Ontario Curling > What'sUp in Eastern Ontario?
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Jimbobogie
Drawmaster

Registered: Feb 2014
Location:
Posts: 538

What'sUp in Eastern Ontario?

I'm looking at the schedule for the provincials and it looks like Divisions 1, 2 and 3 are all being played at the RCMP in Ottawa this week. Were there so few entries? Or have they added a lot more sheets?

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Old Post 12-13-15 09:13PM
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krisblonski
Knee-Slider

Registered: Aug 2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 9

Entries are down across the board in Ontario. Down from 92 last year to 66 this year.

http://www.therecord.com/sports-sto...n-way-oca-head/

My zone, 13, is down to 3 entries. I've never seen it fewer than 8 and it usually floats at 10 or 11.

Dark times.

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Old Post 12-16-15 09:30PM
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Bows
Knee-Slider

Registered: Oct 2006
Location: Ptbo
Posts: 3

I wonder if it has anything to do with the jump in entry fee!! Went up by over $100 per entry over last year?

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Old Post 12-17-15 09:15AM
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curlerbroad
Super Rockchucker

Registered: Feb 2004
Location: Toronto
Posts: 2668

quote:
Originally posted by Bows
I wonder if it has anything to do with the jump in entry fee!! Went up by over $100 per entry over last year?


Definitely...so a team wanting to try their luck will reconsider and use that money to go in a bonspiel instead rather than get badly beaten by a top level team.

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Old Post 12-17-15 09:35AM
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rooke
Harvey Hacksmasher

Registered: Dec 2003
Location:
Posts: 24

Entry fees, parachuting, Olympic ramifications, rising hotel costs, etc. There are a ton of reasons why entries are declining. The most recent decline is mostly due to the increased fees, I would imagine. Combine that with parachuting and "All-Star" teams and it's pretty obvious that club curlers aren't willing to shell out the $$$$ to enter the zone Playdown just so that they can go 0-2 against a top local team and maybe a team where 2 or 3 of the members don't even reside in the zone. Now, don't get me wrong, I love watching the elite teams on TV make shots that club curlers only dream of. But, if you want to grow the game at the grassroots level, changes need to be made. Raising entry fees across the board was not a good idea IMHO, I think it only discouraged teams who were borderline or on the fence with regards to entering play downs. You know that the game is in trouble when you see teams parachuting for Bantam events and the Ontario Challenge events (club curling). Does anybody remember the days of 16 team zone play downs when entries were limited for each club because of the demand? I remember our little club having a 4 team Playdown just to decide our Intermediates entry (40 years and up). Clubs were excited to host these events because 16 men's teams can create pretty decent revenue. I know that I got off topic here, but I think that it all relates to declining entries ......

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Old Post 12-18-15 12:44PM
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FollowingAlong
Swing Artist

Registered: Mar 2006
Location:
Posts: 459

Same story everywhere

I don't believe this issue is unique to eastern Ontario. The associations running these playdown events face this challenge - they have to have enough funds to run the events so when the number of entries decrease, they have to raise entry fees. Can everyone see how this cycle goes? The fewer the number of entries, the more the per entry cost is - go to start of sentence and repeat....

The question becomes, "At what point does the per entry cost start preventing teams from entering?"

It would seem that the threshold has been reached. Decent club teams no longer enter playdowns. I don't know if cost is the exclusive reason but it does play a factor. When every team who aspired to be provincial champion had to go through the same process, there used to be the allure of perhaps getting a chance to play last year's provincial champion in the zone playdowns and maybe even upset them - the underdog's "Brier" title for the year, in essence. It used to be an inexpensive bonspiel with all the best teams in your region. Now, all the very best teams have auto-berths to provincial championships and the next tier of teams leap-frog the first level of playdown competition so marginal teams just simply do not see the benefit of entering playdowns. Cost is a factor and the regional and provincial associations aren't making any effort to address that.

That being said, if the cost of entry was free right now, I honestly do not believe the number of entries would increase significantly. Too many teams get to watch the same dozen "professional" teams on TV and on near-perfect ice and simply acknowledge that they have no chance against a Kevin Koe, a Mike McEwen, a Brad Gushue, a Steve Laycock, etc. and have decided that being an armchair critic is easier than trying to defeat the likes of the teams mentioned above.

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Old Post 12-18-15 02:26PM
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