CurlManitoba Executive Director Craig Baker has announced new title and presenting sponsors and a new name for the Manitoba Women’s Curling Championship.
The first event under the new branding will be played in 2025 in Pilot Mound. It will be the CurlManitoba RME WOMEN OF THE RINGS CHAMPIONSHIP presented by Case IH.
“The RME Women of the Rings presented by Case IH expands the support of curling in Manitoba which began a few years ago when Rocky Mountain Equipment joined us as presenting sponsor of our women’s championship and as a major supporter of our expanded livestream broadcast program,” says Baker. “We have appreciated the long support of first Scott Paper and then Kruger as title sponsors of our Women’s championship and we look forward to the new opportunities created by the join RME & Case IH partnership.”
“We are excited to increase our support for CurlManitoba now as the Title Sponsor of the newly named RME Women of the Rings Championship, commented RME CSOO Jim Wood. “RME has a large footprint throughout rural Manitoba and partnerships like this enable us to support the communities in which we serve.”
The 2025 RME Women of the Rings presented by Case IH in Pilot Mound will be played in the now-standard format of 12 teams competing in two pools of six teams, with playoffs. Kaitlyn Lawes and her 2024 champion team are the first team to qualify for the event as the returning champions.
Rocky Mountain Equipment (RME) is a consolidator of agriculture and construction equipment dealerships, primarily focused on the CNH brands. They employ over 1,000 people directly and serve tens of thousands more customers and their employees. Operating 43 agriculture branch locations across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as serving customers radiating beyond those three provinces, RME’s goal is to provide a reliable, consistent customer experience through each interaction.
RME becomes only the sixth corporate sponsor in the history of Women’s championship in Manitoba which began when Dauphin’s Sadie Delmage team won the first championship in 1951. The Manitoba Ladies Curling Association was the sponsor that first year but Eaton’s joined as the first corporate sponsor (Eaton’s Championship) in 1952.
Dominion Stores became the second corporate sponsor (Silver D Championship) in 1961 and the MLCA was the sponsor of the Rose Bowl from 1968 to 1972. In 1973, Macdonald Tobacco (Macdonald Lassie) became the third corporate sponsor.
Scott Paper (Scott Tournament of Hearts 1982 – 2006) and Kruger Products (Scotties Tournament of Hearts 2007-2024) round out the first five plus decades of women’s curling sponsorship in Manitoba.
