Scottish Curling Championships competition returns to Dumfries this weekend
This will be the fourth consecutive year the Dumfries Ice Bowl has hosted.
Last updated 31st Jan 2025
The team at Dumfries Ice Bowl are busy making the final preparations ahead of the Scottish Curling Championships beginning on Sunday.
For the fourth year in a row, they will be the hosts of the competition.
There are four local teams to look out for over the coming week – three women’s teams and one men’s - who will be joined by rivals from across the country.
In total, 15 teams will be playing over the next week.
Development Manager at the town’s Ice Bowl Graham Sloan told Greatest Hits Radio during an interview that he is looking forward to it.
“It’s always great to host these championships at the ice bowl. It takes a lot of time and effort to get here so once you’re closer to the start date, things begin to get more exciting and then you’re just looking forward to a great championship.”
This event has brought in big crowds previously, and Sloan is expecting to see the same happen again this year, particularly at the knock-out rounds.
“There is lots of drama, lots of shouting, it’s called the roaring games so it should be a great atmosphere.
“Occasionally, the crowds come with airhorns and bells. We just really want to create a really unique venue and atmosphere for the teams to play in and enjoy their games.
“There is a lot of homegrown talent that’s going to be playing in the championships which is quite nice actually because we’ve coached them up from school level.
“They’re not in the country very often, they’re always competing somewhere else so to have them back home on the ice rink they started on and then competing for their national championships allows their coaches to see how far they’ve come.
“So, yeah, it’s going to be a good championship.”