Calgary will host curling's Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2024
Calgary has been named the host city for the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The Canadian women's curling championship will take place Feb 16 to 25, 2024 at the WinSport Event Centre, the same venue that hosted the event in 2021 before near-empty stands due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The WinSport Event Centre has a seating capacity of around 3,000.
Reaction to the news from politicians and a number of former Canadian curling icons was ecstatic.
"It's a great privilege to welcome Canada's top women's curling teams back to the city in 2024,'' said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek."While we recently hosted the Scotties as part of the closed curling bubble in 2021, we certainly missed the experience of cheering on the athletes live and in person.''
"Calgary's been behind many great events, including the 1988 Olympics," said two-time Scotties champ Amy Nixon. "Thinking of that, standing at WinSport, but certainly I have every faith that the Calgary community and certainly our partners at Curling Alberta will do an excellent job of hosting the 2024 Scotties.
"We haven't had that many Scotties in Calgary," she added, "So (we're) pretty excited to be able to support the Scotties coming in 2024."
Cheryl Bernard curled in four Scotties and recalled the pandemic event of 2021, which was played at WinSport in front of no fans.
Canadian curler Cheryl Bernard smiles during a training session for the women's curling matches at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Aaron Favila
"I felt so bad for the curlers," Bernard said. "And so to be able to come here… and I was here for a Continental Cup when this was standing room only at this venue at WinSport and it was so exciting and they'll pack it to the rafters and the curlers feed off that and the fans do too."
Shannon Kleibrink, who curled in five Scotties, expects that 2024 will be a much different scenario for curlers.
"It's just the right size, so I expect it to be a packed house…standing room only and just a really energized crowd and looking forward to it."
Her thoughts were echoed by 1981 champ Susan Seitz, who added, "Calgary's got a good reputation for a lot of support from the community, the province and we've got a lot of great volunteers and a great curling community really."
The event also figures to be financially rewarding for city businesses.
"The Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the full week of the event in Calgary will deliver in excess of $6 million in economic impact that will support local hotels, local restaurants, local retail, local transportation," said Carson Ackroyd of Tourism Calgary.
Alberta teams have won the Canadian women's championship on eight occasions, behind only Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Team Canada, with 11 apiece.
The 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts will be held in Kamloops, B.C., starting Feb. 17.
With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

U.S. assassination attempt charges 'confirm' Trudeau's claims about India had 'real substance,' former national security advisers say
The indictment of an Indian national for the attempted assassination of a Sikh separatist and dual U.S.-Canadian national 'validates' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations that the Indian government may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen as having 'real substance,' according to two of Canada's former national security advisers.
7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes off the southern Philippines and a tsunami warning is issued
A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck Saturday off the cost of the southern Philippines island of Mindanao and Philippine authorities issued a tsunami warning.
BREAKING Bonnie Crombie wins Ontario Liberal leadership after 3 rounds of voting
Ontario Liberals have selected Bonnie Crombie, a three-term big city mayor and former MP who boasts that she gets under Doug Ford’s skin, as their next leader to go head to head with the premier in the next election.
Search for runaway kangaroo in Ontario continues
The search continues for the kangaroo that is hopping around somewhere in Ontario after it escaped zoo handlers from a transport truck Thursday night.
What was a hospital like in medieval times? Researchers analyzed 400 skeletons to find out
In medieval times, hospitals took care of the 'poor and infirm,' but how were inhabitants selected and what were their lives like? Researchers analyzed 400 skeletons to find out.
Hoopla expected to hit new heights as Sinclair's farewell game in Vancouver nears
Canada's lopsided 5-0 win over an experimental Australia side in the rain Friday at Starlight Stadium and the hoopla surrounding it provided a taste of what is to come in Christine Sinclair's farewell game at B.C. Place Stadium.
'Big, dark canvas of despair': Rick Hansen speaks on how his mindset changed after being paralyzed
Rick Hansen's life changed the day he was told he'd never walk again, but instead of letting his disability stand in his way, he became an advocate for accessibility rights and a Paralympic Athlete. Here's how that happened.
'Every tool at our disposal': Lawyers submit amended application to challenge Sask. pronoun legislation
LGBTQ2S+ advocates are not backing down in their legal fight against the Sask. Party’s Parents’ Bill of Rights, submitting an amended application against the legislation on Friday evening.
Amid housing crisis, jail seen as preferable to living on the street
Michael Keough has to pause in the middle of his phone call from Newfoundland and Labrador's largest jail to cough and wipe his eyes -- there's black mould on the wall where the phones are, he explains, and it irritates him after a while.