THUNDER BAY — Thunder Bay wasn’t a shoo-in to host the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
But three years after the city hosted the national women’s curling championship, with no fans in the stands, the event is coming back to the Lakehead.
Curling Canada on Tuesday announced the Scotties will be back in Thunder Bay from Feb. 14 to Feb. 23, 2025, the second time in four years the country’s best will take to the Fort William Gardens Ice.
Al Cameron, spokesman for Curling Canada, said Thunder Bay put in a great bid, and given how well they did in 2022, it wasn’t a tough choice.
“The city wanted to do it right,” Cameron said.
“We wanted to do it right and I think it’s a happy situation that we we’re going to get to do it right in 2025.”
The city was originally awarded the 2021 Scotties, but the pandemic led to the event being staged inside a bubble in Calgary, with Thunder Bay getting the 2022 championship. The pandemic once again foiled those plans.
The Scotties are expected to bring 3,000 people to the city over the course of the event, generating an economic impact between $7 million and $8 million, on a $400,000 bid fee paid for through the municipal accommodation tax, administered by the Thunder Bay Community Economic Commission.
There are also millions more in earned air time.
“TSN (will have) nine hours a day in broadcasting, and that’s Thunder Bay in the spotlight on national television over 10 days. That’s huge,” Cameron said.
Diane Imrie, the vice-chair of the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts organizing committee, said she’d hoped all along Thunder Bay would be give a do-over, and is thrilled it’s actually going to happen.
“We called (2022) our dress rehearsal. There’s no disputing the fact we were disappointed that in 2022 we couldn’t put on a full event, so we are thrilled that Curling Canada saw what they liked when they were here in 2022 and they’re coming back again,” Imrie said.
Equally excited is two-time Scotties runner-up Krista McCarville, who added former New Brunswick skip Andrea Kelly to her team, with a two-year commitment and an eye on 2025 at the Gardens.
“Just thinking about it, it’s so exciting. Having a few of our family and friends coming in those last few games (in 2022) for the playoffs, it was an eruption like you wouldn’t believe. It sounded as if it was a full crowd,” said McCarville, who took silver at the 2016 and 2022 Scotties.
“I can’t even imagine what it would be like with a full crowd there, cheering. Having everybody on your side is a super exciting feeling. However, we’re not there. Fingers are crossed that we perform and do our best to get there.”
Ticket and volunteer information is expected to be announced at some point in the new year.
The 2022 Scotties were won by Team Canada’s Keri Einarson.
