The Ottawa Valley Curling Association ( OVCA ) is a regional association for the sport of curling in the Ottawa valley region of Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec .
17-601: The OVCA was founded in 1957. It has operated a number of bonspiels , most notably the City of Ottawa Men's Bonspiel which occurred every March. It was one of the largest bonspiels in the world, and had been running annually since 1956. In 2010, the open division had 137 teams. All OVCA bonspiels were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. As of March 2024, only the Goldline/OVCA Little Rocks Championships and
34-510: Is one of the few in New Zealand to have conditions suitable for outdoor curling, and is also a fitting site for the sport given that Otago 's original European settlers were mainly from Scotland. Several artificial and natural lakes around the towns of Oturehua , Naseby and Patearoa provide good conditions, on average every second or third year. The national bonspiel has been held when conditions permit since 1879, with Oturehua's Idaburn Dam
51-497: Is run by Canadian Branch Curling. Bonspiel A bonspiel is a curling tournament, consisting of several games, often held on a weekend. Until the 20th century most bonspiels were held outdoors, on a frozen freshwater loch . Today almost all bonspiels are held indoors on specially prepared artificial ice. Curling Canada , formerly known as the Canadian Curling Association, is the national governing body of
68-555: The Dunedin Ice Stadium ), and in the towns of Naseby, Otago and Gore, Southland , and also further north in the country's largest city, Auckland . Open air ice rinks exist in Naseby and Alexandra . A cashspiel is a bonspiel played for money, and a carspiel is one played for the prize of an automobile. There are different types of cashspiels, some are small, with prizes in the hundreds of dollars, and others are quite sizeable, with
85-594: The Netherlands , Ireland , Italy , Japan , Luxembourg , New Zealand , Norway , South Africa , Spain , Switzerland , the United States and Wales . In 1853 the club established a curling pond for Grand Matches at Carsebreck Loch in Perth and Kinross . This site saw 25 such matches that were served by the club's own private Carsbreck until the last was held at this site in 1935. The World Curling Federation (WCF),
102-639: The Royal Caledonian Curling Club 's own pond at Carsebreck Loch in Perth and Kinross served by the society's own private Carsbreck railway station . Dozens of bonspiels are held in European countries every year. Switzerland hosts multiple Curling Champions Tour events. Curling bonspiels are held when ice conditions permit in the Maniototo , part of Central Otago in the South Island . The region
119-590: The Brokerlink/OVCA U21 Superspiel have been reinstated. As of September 2019, all OVCA-member clubs were required to become members of the Ontario Curling Association or Curling Quebec . List last updated Feb 29, 2024. The Governor-General's Trophy competition is a dual rink tournament held between the winners of playdowns run between two representatives of the OVCA and Curling Québec . It
136-590: The United States are held indoors in dedicated curling facilities, but a few bonspiels are held outdoors if the weather allows it. One example of an outdoor bonspiel is the Sawtooth Outdoor Bonspiel held each January in the Sawtooth Mountain Range of Idaho. Bonspiels are popular throughout the United States during curling season, typically October through April. Some special bonspiels are held in
153-691: The governing body for international curling, originated as a committee (formed in Perth, Scotland in March 1965) of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, and became an independent organisation in 1982. The WCF officially recognises the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, as the Mother Club of Curling. The WCF is still based in Perth, although for a brief period between 1994 and 2000 it too was based in Edinburgh with
170-611: The most important cashspiels being part of the World Curling Tour (WCT). Many local curling clubs and other organizations in Canada also host casual, social bonspiels indoors, and a few are also held outdoors like the Ironman Outdoor Curling Bonspiel in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba . The United States Curling Association (USA Curling) is the national governing body of the sport in the United States. Most bonspiels in
187-514: The rewards running into the tens of thousands of dollars. Possibly from Dutch bond "league, association" + spel "game". Royal Caledonian Curling Club The Royal Caledonian Curling Club ( RCCC ), branded as Scottish Curling is a curling club in Edinburgh , Scotland . It developed the first official rules for the sport, and is the governing body of curling in Scotland. The RCCC
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#1733092934308204-752: The sport in Canada. While bonspiels originated in Scotland , the most notable competitive curling tournament in the world nowadays is the Canadian Men's Curling Championship, The Brier . For many Canadians, this tournament equals or nearly equals the importance of the Olympics and the World Curling Championship . The Canadian Women's Curling Championship is called the Scotties Tournament of Hearts . Several Cashspiels are played in Canada every year, with
221-441: The summer as well as some that are hosted by clubs that play on arena ice as there are usually fewer scheduling conflicts with other sports at the area such as hockey and figure skating. In Scotland, outdoor bonspiels are now very rare; most lochs that formerly hosted bonspiels, such as Loch Earn , rarely freeze over anymore. The Loch of Aboyne was the site of a bonspiel in 1891 and the private railway station, Aboyne Curling Pond
238-515: The venue since 1932. The most recent national bonspiel, the 66th, was held on 13-14 July 2015. Most New Zealand curling clubs are located in Otago , Canterbury , and Southland , and owing to the difficulty of getting teams to the relatively inaccessible venue, it is rare for teams to travel from outside the southern South Island to the bonspiel. Indoor curling rinks exist in Otago's main centre, Dunedin (at
255-614: Was established by Lord Dufferin , the Governor General of Canada at the time in 1874 as a dual rink tournament, with the finals played at Rideau Hall until 1939. The event is run by Canadian Branch Curling. Much like the Governor-General's Trophy, members of the OVCA and Curling and Québec are eligible to compete for the Quebec Challenge Cup , a double rink challenge trophy which has been competed for since 1874. The event
272-577: Was founded on 25 July 1838 in Edinburgh , and granted its royal charter by Queen Victoria in 1843, after she had witnessed a demonstration of the sport played on the polished ballroom floor of Scone Palace the previous year. The club's objective is "To unite curlers throughout the world into one Brotherhood of the Rink", and it has branches and affiliated associations and clubs in Austria , Belgium , Canada , Denmark , England , Finland , France , Germany ,
289-501: Was used for the event. The word spiel is sometimes used to refer to an informal curling game, as in parish spiel . The most important Cashspiels in Scotland are part of the Curling Champions Tour (CCT) The Grand Match was last held outdoors in 1979, although it was revived as an indoor tournament in 2000 and has been held every five years since. Between 1853 and 1935 twenty-five 'Grand Matches' or bonspiels were held at
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