FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 23,2025
2026 ASTEC SAFETY CHALLENGE & the OLYMPIC GAMES
When the ASTEC SAFETY CHALLENGE was in the early planning stages the fall of 2022, finding the perfect dates on the calendar was paramount to our success. Attracting the very best curling teams in the world was our #1 priority and foundational to establishing Lloydminster as a can’t miss event for curlers, fans, and corporate partners. After two years of record crowds enjoying the highest levels of curling, crowning deserving champions (2024-TEAM KOE & 2025 TEAM DUNSTONE), hosting two Musgrave Agencies Junior Development Curling Clinics, and donating more than $60,000 to the Lloydminster Curling Club, the Organizing Committee, together with our presenting sponsor Wild Rows Pump & Compression, knew that we had found the very best dates for our event. The second week in January, just before the first Grand Slam of Curling event following the Christmas break, and before the onset of the provincial playdowns leading to the Montana’s
Canadian Brier Championship.
A term that we hear often is “quadrennial” which refers to the 4 year cycle of preparation and competition culminating with the Olympic Games. We see all the major sports adjusting schedules, allocating players, and structuring activities to optimize their participation in the Olympic Games. Curling is no different…teams form with a plan to get to the Olympic Games; events are moved to accommodate the Olympic Games and the impact of the once every four year worldwide athletic spectacle cannot be denied. Such is the case with the curling activities and schedules leading up to the February 2026 Olympic Games.
Our 2025 ASTEC SAFETY CHALLENGE participating teams survey responses confirmed we host an annual event that all teams highlight on their respective schedules, however, we are not immune to the huge shadow cast in the final year ramp-up to the Olympic Games. We have just been advised that the Grand Slam of Curling, without any prior dialogue with ourselves, scheduled the GSOC AMJ Player’s Championship in Steinbach, MB, January 6-11, 2026. Yes, the exact same dates we had projected for the ASTEC SAFETY CHALLENGE. We were also advised that the Curling Alberta playdowns were re-scheduled to the same dates for 2026. With the Olympic Games scheduled February 6-22, 2026, international team travel will be increasingly restricted and holding the event earlier in an already tightly packed schedule, or subsequent to the Olympic Games, is not at all desirable. In this case, an Olympic Games year, TIMING, TIMING, TIMING, is everything.
After much analysis and consideration of options, recognizing the asset we have co-created with great corporate partners & dedicated volunteers, attracting the highest quality international field assembled, competing for the largest purse ($125,000), outside the GSOC events, we have arrived at a difficult decision. Our date on the calendar is critically important. It was essential in attracting the overall quality of the professional curling teams that played in the event. That field, comprised of GSOC, National, World, and Olympic Champions, ensured value for all involved, from Corporate Partners, Curling Fans, to the business community in Lloydminster region. Diluting the event and value proposition in any way is not acceptable. In the final analysis we have concluded that the ASTEC SAFETY CHALLENGE, held in the second week of January, best positions the event for enduring future success. Unfortunately, that dictates that we host the event, annually, in the first 3 years of a 4 year quadrennial cycle, taking a break every fourth year due to the Olympic Games scheduling requirements. As such, the next ASTEC SAFETY CHALLENGE Professional Men’s Curling
event will be scheduled for January 6-10, 2027, where we will once again, enthusiastically, welcome the world to Lloydminster.
