Sports

It's official.

Photo: Wayne Moore - Castanet

Prospera Place GM Wayne Pansegrau made the announcement all curling fans in Kelowna have been waiting for

As first reported here on Castanet.net, Prospera Place will play host to a Grand Slam of Curling event in December.

The announcement was made Monday afternoon.

The Canadian Open, bringing together 18 of the top men's teams in the world, will be held at Prospera Place December 12 to 16.

While Kelowna has hosted the Brier, World Women's and Scott Tournament of Hearts, this is the first time curling has been held at Prospera Place since the building opened 13 years ago.

Arena general manager, Wayne Pansegrau says the event was made possible after Sportsnet acquired the rights to the Grand Slam of Curling in August.

"They were looking for a venue out west and they contacted saying they would like to do it in Kelowna," says Pansegrau.

"Knowing we had the week available because the Rockets are on the road we made things work out. We worked with them the last two or three week and it came to this."

Pansegrau says this could be the first of many curling events for Kelowna.

"If we show well and Kelowna gets behind us I believe we can bring some more events here as well. The Scotties Tournament of Hearts and things like that I would like to see here as well."

Kelowna Curling Club manager, Jock Tyre has been waiting for an event such as this to come to Prospera Place since the arena opened.

His enthusiasm for the curling community was evident.

"It's really great. Any opportunity to get into an arena and have first class curlers come into Kelowna, it brightens up the community. People are going to be talking about Kelowna more than they would normally. It's going to be amazing," says Tyre.

"It's nice to see the shell broken where we get curling into Prospera Place. We have been trying since the arena was first opened and I think this will lead to bigger, better things, not that the grand slam isn't a great event but it only represents the men's side. It would be nice to get, on a regular basis, men's championships, women's championships and Canadian championships into Kelowna."

Just who will compete in Kelowna won't be known officially for a number of weeks, however, it is safe to say the likes of Kevin Martin, Kevin Koe, Jeff Stoughton and Glenn Howard will take part.

Tyre says Kelowna could also be represented in the elite field of 18.

"Right now I think Jimmy's (Cotter) ranked about 18th. The next BC team is Brent Pierce ranked 27. I think Jimmy will be in it for sure."

Two ticket packages were unveiled Monday. The full package of 12 draws plus tie-breakers if necessary are priced at $125.

Championship weekend tickets good for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, final and tie-breakers if necessary are priced at $37.50.

Single draw tickets will go on sale at a later date.

Tickets go on sale at Select Your Tickets Thursday morning at 10 a.m.