Oilfields Curling Club is celebrating 100 years of curling in our community during the 2026-2027 season, with a slate of special events planned to mark this milestone.
The celebrations kick off with an Open House on October 17th, featuring several dignitaries, a demonstration curling game, and a chance for the public to step out onto the ice and try the sport for themselves. Special 100-Year commemorative clothing will be available, along with a limited- edition Whisky and Gin produced in partnership with Eau Claire Distillery.
The club will also host a special edition of its Little Brown Jug Bonspiel from November 11-15, with our organizers hoping to field 32 teams. The event’s traditional Saturday night dinner will once again be held at the Turner Valley Legion, a venue with deep roots in the club’s history.
Curling’s history in the area stretches back to the 1920s, long before there was indoor ice. The first games were played on the frozen Sheep River, and for a time curlers carried their own pair of stones to and from matches. The Turner Valley Legion hosted the community’s first invitational bonspiel in 1926, and by 1927, the Royalite Oil Company had built the area’s first curling rink, a three-sheet facility that served curlers until the late 1950s. It was natural ice with no refrigeration so chinooks made for interesting curling!
The Turner Valley Oilfields Curling Association, forerunner to today’s OCC, was incorporated in 1959 and moved into a second facility in Black Diamond that same year. This rink had an ice plant so a big step up from the old rink.
The club’s current home on 3rd Street West in Black Diamond opened in 1996, the product of four years of construction, fundraising, and volunteer effort. The upstairs lounge, Gerry’s, was added in 2003, when the association changed our name to the Oilfields Curling Club.
Curling has been a big part of the social fabric of our community for the last century. It is a sport that you can play all your life – our curlers range in age from 9 to 90! It’s a fun way to stay active over the winter and the social aspect of the game is also important – you get to know lots of wonderful people.
Registration is open for the coming season – we have daytime and evening leagues – and we offer a fall Learn-to-Curl program for those who are just starting out.
The club continues to grow, with new leagues added this season, including a Tuesday night drop-in, a Tuesday morning TAG league, and a Thursday morning men’s league, alongside a well-established junior program for kids aged nine and up.
Are you looking for something fun to do this winter? Why not give curling a try? We offer a friendly, welcoming environment and we’ll help you get started. This will be a special season at Oilfields Curling Club!
For more information on the club and its centennial celebrations, visit www.OCCcurling.com.
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