One Competitor Card for 2010-11

It didn't get big billing in the Canadian Curling Association's 2010 Annual General Meeting news release, because it was really an item of old business from a year ago, but the era of multiple competitor cards has ended. In the coming season, we revert to a single competitor card.  That's the first piece of good news.

The second and really good news for competitors is the fear of a big jump in the competitor fee has also not transpired. CurlManitoba Executive Director Shane Ray advises Manitoba will continue to  add a $10 Manitoba competitor fee to the CCA's $30 fee agreed to last weekend. That means Manitobans will pay only a $40 competitor card fee to compete in as many as four events annually.

For Women - the Scotties and for Men - the Safeway Championship/Tim Hortons Brier competitor card now includes the opportunity to compete in the Mixed and the Seniors, and even the Masters, if you are eligible. Of course, the stand-alone Masters card continues in Manitoba at a cost of $15 but that doesn't include eligibility for any of the other three you might be interested in.

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Manitoba's delegates get full credit for making this happen at the past two CCA Annual Meetings. The original motion, a year ago, was made by Jim Strath and Cindy Maddock. The motion passed as a motion of principle - there should be a single competitor card, based on the premise that the financial need no longer existed for a multiple-card system. The motion passed with two guiding concepts. First, it would become effective for 2010-11 and second, it would be (if possible) no more than $30 - a $5 increase for a single card.

The staff's assessment was that the Strath-Maddock proposed $30 level for the CCA portion of the card was workable and recommended going ahead. As CurlManitoba President, CIndy Maddock was present again this year and did a good job of explaining background to the motion and last year's discussion for the benefit of those of us who were attending for the first time.