I hope you all had a good Christmas and now, on behalf of the Board and the Ayr Curling Club committee, I wish you good curling and good fortune whatever 2022 might bring in the year ahead.
Although we probably wish we could ignore the media, you could hardly fail to be aware of the changing Covid situation and I wanted to reassure you that the ice rink is continuing its efforts to ensure as safe an environment as possible.
Scottish Curling has updated its Covid guidelines in line with the current restrictions and these guidelines can be found here: https://www.scottishcurling.org/covid-19/return-to-curling-guidance/
In summary, on ice, it is recommended that only one curler sweeps the travelling stone. The second curler can travel with the stone and sweep alternatively if, for example, the skip calls for directional sweeping. The opposition skip should remain behind the hack and no player should sweep any stone during the opposition’s turn.
The general 1m social distancing guideline applies and there should be no handshakes although good sportsmanship should still be acknowledged verbally.
Off ice, the general guidelines in relation to the hospitality sector apply. Lateral flow tests are recommended before coming to any gathering. We should be wearing our face masks when moving about, keeping our 1m social distancing and we already have a one way system in place with hand sanitiser stations throughout the building. We use the membership cards for test and trace but we also have a signing in facility at the lounge entrance for anyone without their membership card.
A couple of differences you will see next week is the need to limit groups to no more than three households and to cope with this the lounge furniture will be rearranged. We will also be back to table service for the bar and catering.
Your guess is as good as mine as to how long these revised guidelines will apply but if we use common sense and treat others with consideration, we will be able to navigate our way through this bump on the road back to normality.
Curling resumes next Monday 3rd January and, if you are like me, you’ll welcome the chance of some exercise to make a start in shedding these extra pounds put on during this holiday period. I look forward to seeing you all in the coming days and weeks and once again, I would take this opportunity to wish you a happy and a prosperous New Year and to thank you all for your continued support of the ice rink.
Andrew Kerr
Managing Director
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