In an announcement made by Curling Canada on Monday morning in the Crescent Point Lounge at Affinity Place, the City of Estevan will play host to the 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup of Curling.

From December 5-9, the best men's and women's curling teams from across the country will meet in Estevan, where the winning team from both sides will win $70,000. Not only will the winners take home a cash prize, they will also pick up a spot in the 2021 Road to the Roar Pre-Trials. The qualifying teams will then try to book their spot in the 2021 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings Canadian Curling Trials, with the victors moving on to represent Canada at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

FULL PRESS CONFERENCE: 

"You have no idea how hard it's been to keep this quiet, it's such exciting news for this community," explained host-committee vice-chair, Helen Fornwald. "It was our dream to run the Tankard, and when CurlSask came to us and said would you think about running another event in the future, we said yeah a couple years down the road, and then Curling Canada said would you be interested and we said yeah, in a few years. Then they came to us, and it's only nine months away, it's just wow."

Curling Canada's Director of Communication and Media Relations, Al Cameron makes an introduction at Monday morning's press conference.

There's no doubt both Curling Canada and CurlSask looked to the success of the 2018 SaskTel Tankard as an excellent model of what can be done in the City of Estevan.

"A lot of things go into the bid," said Curling Canada's Chair of the Board of Govenors, Resby Coutts. "You have to base it on a track record and when you've got a recent track record of success, that's a good start. There's the additional assessment of the excitement that the event will include in the community. When you think about this event, this is the right size community, it's a beautiful arena."

"We knew it was a proven commodity coming here based on the feedback we got from CurlSask after the Tankard, to see this building in person for the first time, it's a first class facility and we know there's an appetite for curling in this community," said Curling Canada's Director of Communications and Media Relations, Al Cameron. "The junior curlers in this town are going to see people they only watch on television, they're going to be inspired."

After Curling Canada recieved such a great review from CurlSask, it was a no brainer for Estevan to be chosen as the host city. Estevan joins Yorkton and Moose Jaw as the two other cities in the province to have hosted the Canada Cup of Curling.

"It speaks to the success we had when we were here in February," explained CurlSask President, Mitch Minken. "The event was first class, good things happen to communities that work hard like this, and I'm sure this is going to be a wonderful event when it comes here in December. The prizes are big and you have the top seven teams on both sides, there's no better curling event that can be had here."

Host-Committee Vice-Chair, Helen Fornwald. Photo: @CurlingCanada

In the past, teams like Kevin Koe, Jennifer Jones, Mike McEwen and Rachel Homan have taken the top spot, which shows a glimpse into the elite curling talent that will be competing in December.

"It's a big step from the Tankard, it's a different level. Best of the best in the country, here's an opportunity to see them live and meet them live," Helen Fornwald concluded.

"We're so proud of this event coming up, we have such a great volunteer base," Estevan's Mayor Roy Ludwig chimed in. "It brings to the forefront that our people did such a great job at the Tankard, we're willing to be tried again, it's just simply awesome."

Tickets for the event will go on sale at the beggning of May.

DiscoverEstevan will be providing extensive coverage of the 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup of Curling.