Managing a Bonspiel Checklist

You should pick at least 3 other people to be responsible for various parts of your spiel. You will need people for Entries, Registration, Food, Draw, Raffle Prizes or Donations, Hospitality (table cleaners, bartenders, raffle & Calcutta board people.
Establish an entry fee and try to budget food and other expenses accordingly. The idea should be to cover all cost and the ice time and some profit to the club. (As of 2021 there is a $40/team surcharge that goes directly to the club, to guarantee profit)
Entry Fee must now account for and include 7.875% Sales Tax.
Target number of teams you are shooting for.
Need total number of teams to be divisible by 8 (sheets of ice) 8, 16, 32, & 64 are even brackets, 24, 40, 48, & 56 will have a short bracket. These numbers Donn Satrom has draws already made for. Using Donn’s draws you can usually tell teams what time their first three draw times are. Any other numbers you will be on your own. You should consult with Donn for suggestions and recommendations. Using these existing draws will minimize number of times a team would play on the same sheet.
Reserve block of rooms for out of town rinks. Try to utilize motel/hotels that support our club through advertising. The Kelly Inn has a SPCC room rate for 2014-15.
Open website early with entry fee, any on-line registration or payment instructions, draw times (if available), hotel information (location, who to contact, phone number, and room rates).
Contact neighborhood businesses about sponsoring your event. They can provide raffle prizes and/or coupons for each curler. Be sure to mention your sponsors in your bonspiel program.
Develop a flyer with pertinent information and E-mail past participants and all clubs within reasonable proximity.
Rapit Printing can make up draw boards for you (need to give them at least a week). Number of teams must be finalized. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Need to keep track of on line registrations and payments. Good idea to number them in order received. Need to be aware of on-line payments.
Usually consider Canadian and US dollar at same value for entry fee.
Give yourself time between draws for extra ends, slow games and ice cleaning. Preferably 2:30 for 8-end games. Allow time (90 min) for a full shave after every 2-3 games. Verify draw schedule with head ice tech before publishing it.
Try and get help for ice cleaning. Home team or winners could clean ice. If you use Juniors, a donation should be given to Junior program.
Draw-master is huge to keep draw boards updated and team name on the sheets for each draw.
Calcutta boards are an additional source of revenue. They give the opportunity to buy a team and, if your team wins an event, receive a payout in excess of the price you paid for the chance to participate. Probably best to make two boards, a $20 and a $10 board. 50% payout should be the minimum. Should sell them at registration desk and have designated people to push them after the first and second draws.
Use cash from entry fee and Calcutta boards and make envelopes for payouts to the Calcutta winners. May not have the time or cash available if you wait until Sunday.
First & second draw times are very important in determining food expense and kitchen help. Try to avoid serving meals late in the evening. Hard to get help and usually have a lot of people around which minimize table space for eating.
Don’t start on Food until number of teams is determined. Keep in mind that you pay for the number of meals you tell them, regardless of number served. You should account for spectators with reasonably priced meals.
You probably should have food tickets for each curler and each meal involving the kitchen. They will need to determine who is a curler and who is a spectator.
Make sure you know if you will be charged for the spectator meals or if the Kitchen will collect for them. You need to make up a sign for each meal, and determine who will be responsible to collect the money.
Draw time or times should be personally conveyed to skip or person sending in entry. Try to cater to out-of-towners and meet their request if given.
Keep track of order of entries and have some method of what determines who prevails as the spiel gets to the final entries. If possible get a few teams on a waiting list after the spiel is full. Keep list of entries for contacts next year.
Results to table talk and Games and Events if trophy updates required. Send event winners, runners-up, and photos to Table Talk (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
Send pictures of the winners and Bonspiel results to Curling News. Good pub for the club and other upcoming spiels.
Create a packet for each team, with a welcoming letter, menu indicating what is being provided, requirement for curlers to get food (tickets or participation pins), specific rules (free-guard zone, extra ends, ice cleaning instructions). It is helpful to mark on each packet (separate by draw time and alphabetically) how much they owe.

Managing a Bonspiel Checklist

Member Login

Upcoming Events

Have a question?

Our Sponsors

Interested in Curling?

Location

Contact Us

Club Information