July 2021 Letter from the President
It’s been a while since I updated you on what’s going on with the club, and I wanted to provide you with an update on where we are at with our agreement with Curl Austin and preparation for the ’21-’22 curling season on dedicated ice.
We are wrapping up our summer leagues, just 2 more Friday sessions and one Tuesday session and we are complete for the summer. Once these leagues wrap up we will be packing up four sets of the rocks and shipping them of to be re-furbished. Near the end of August, we will be re-doing the ice markings (no hockey lines!) to set up for the September 1 opening of dedicated ice. We will be requesting volunteers to help with both of these activities, please help us out if you can.
While the agreement with curl Austin still has the final few details to be ironed out, we have agreed in principle to the most important aspects and I can relay this information to you with a high degree of confidence.
Curl Austin will be using the ice regularly for learn to curls, corporate events, private events, and other special programs on Wednesday evenings, all day Saturday, and Sundays between our leagues. They will also be using the ice less frequently during weekday daytime hours. When Curl Austin is not using the ice, it will be available for member practice.
In addition to the continuation of our regular Tuesday evening, Friday late night, and Sunday morning leagues, we will be adding a Monday evening and a Thursday evening league, as well as a Sunday evening doubles (any gender) league. The new leagues, as well as our Tuesday evening league, will have room to expand to 2 draws (up to 16 teams), while our other leagues will be a single draw (up to 8 teams). Based on the success of the Tuesday league, which we built from scratch to 8 teams (during Covid!), and the growing popularity of Curl Austin’s regular Friday and Saturday Learn To Curls during the last few months, we expect to be able to grow these leagues quickly. We will run individual leagues, mostly in the 4 to 8 game per league model, throughout the year to allow for good competition and league growth.
Memberships will be offered in three tiers. Premiere Memberships allow for participation in any number of leagues, as well as free practice, for an annual fee of $1500. Basic Membership will allow for participation in one league at a time, as well as free practice, and will have an annual fee of $800. We will continue to have a Pay As You Go Membership as well, paying for individual leagues much like our model has been in the past, and will also have practice privileges for the duration of the league. The exact price of this model is still being determined.
I want to thank everyone for their patience as we have worked through all of the details with Curl Austin to bring dedicated ice to Austin. As soon as the agreement is complete, I will send out materials with all of the details, including final pricing, benefits, and a proposed league schedule for the coming season. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to me or anyone on the Board.
Good curling,
Joe Glaeser
President, Lone Star Curling Club
