Every bonspiel committee gets to the same question. The ice is booked, the banquet is booked, and someone asks what the A event winners actually get. Then a bag of pint glasses shows up again.
We read what curlers say they kept from past spiels, priced every common prize in Canadian dollars, and did the arithmetic for a 16-team weekend. The answer isn't the pint glass.
The short answer. The best bonspiel prizes are cash or bar credit for the A event, a pin for every curler, and something winners keep in their curling bag, like a lidded tumbler engraved with the event and year. Skip glassware. Engrave the event, not names, because you won't know the winners until Sunday.
By Chen Deng, founder, LAMOSE, Calgary, Alberta
What curlers say they keep
A club organizer asked r/Curling in September 2025 for their favourite bonspiel prizes. The answers are blunt.
"Always pins! Never glassware!" was one. Another: "Either put my name on a trophy or give me a pin. Heck, do both." One curler would "rather win some bar credits. Or maybe some money off next years entry fee."
The answer that matters most for committees came from someone who already had enough: "Stuff like glassware, coasters, and coozies is kind of fun, but I have plenty at home… I've really enjoyed things I'll keep in my bag and use specifically when I'm curling, like a flask or a tumbler with a lid."
That's the test. Does it go in the curling bag, or in a cupboard with the last six spiels?
Bonspiel prizes, ranked
| Rank | Prize | Typical price (CAD) | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cash, bar credit or next year's entry | Your call | What competitive teams ask for. Several Alberta spiels this fall already pay cash per win. |
| 2 | A custom pin for every curler | Under $1 to $24 | Small, cheap, and the prize the r/Curling thread asked for most often. |
| 3 | Engraved lidded tumbler for event winners | $19.25 each at 10+ (ours) | Goes in the bag and comes to every draw. Our pick for winners. |
| 4 | Curling medal or small trophy | $3.95 to $30.95 | Cheap and traditional. Some curlers call trophies silly; others want their name on one. |
| 5 | Curling novelties (ornaments, keychains, crib boards) | $3.99 to $42.99 | Fine as door prizes. Easy to forget which spiel they came from. |
| 6 | Pint or rocks glasses | From $6.99 | Curlers say they have plenty. Glass and a curling bag don't mix. |
Prices are from each shop's own site on October 5, 2026: Asham, The Curling Store, the Curling Canada shop, Awards4U, River Signs, ShopTrophies and CustomPins.ca. Low pin prices are high-volume tiers, so check the setup fee.
Where to buy each one
Pins. The Curling Canada shop sells its logo pin for $7.99, and Asham's curling rock pin is $23.99. For your own spiel's pin, CustomPins.ca lists soft enamel "As Low As C$0.86/pc" with "No Minimum Order Quantity". Patch Makers Canada in Winnipeg offers "custom pins with no minimum on select styles."
Medals and trophies. ShopTrophies has a curling medal at $3.95, River Signs at $5.95 and Awards4U at $7.45. Awards4U's resin curling trophies run $16.95 to $30.95.
Novelties. Asham sells a curling rock keychain at $3.99, an ornament at $12.99 and a crib board at $42.99. The Curling Store has a Goldline rock ornament at $19.95. Broomfitters in Minnesota prices in US dollars, so add the exchange rate and duty.
Tumblers for winners. That's us. We're a Calgary engraver, not a curling shop, so we only make sense for the third row of the table.
How many prizes does a bonspiel need?
Count events times placings times four. The Edmonton Seniors Open, for example, ran "Four events – A, B, C, D. 8 teams in each event." A 16-team spiel with A, B, C and D events, prizes for winners and runners-up, needs 32 prizes. Winners only needs 16.
| Spiel | Prizes | Grouse 16 oz at $19.25 | Per team entered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 teams, 4 events, winners only | 16 | $308 | $19.25 |
| 16 teams, 4 events, winners and runners-up | 32 | $616 | $38.50 |
| 32 teams, 4 events, winners only | 16 | $308 | $9.63 |
For scale: the weekend spiels we checked on Curling Alberta's listings this fall charge $300 to $320 a team. The Indus Men's at Bow Valley caps at 16 teams at $300, which is $4,800 in entries before ice and the banquet. Prices are before tax and shipping. The 45% discount at 10+ applies at checkout with no code.
Engrave the event, not the winners
This is the step committees miss. You won't know who won the B event until Sunday afternoon, and nobody is engraving 16 names between the final and the banquet.
So engrave what you know in advance: the spiel's name, the year, and the event. "Huntington Hills Ladies · A Event · 2026" reads as a trophy. Order the same piece for every event and the engraving is the only thing that changes.
A logo works too. Send it as a vector file and we'll proof it before anything is cut.
Grouse 16 oz tumbler, engraved with your event and year
Leakproof one-hand flip lid, so it rides in a curling bag. 6 hours hot, 12 cold. $35, or $19.25 each at 10+.
Prize draws need a licence in Alberta. Prizes for winning don't.
If your spiel sells tickets for a prize table or a 50/50, that's a raffle. AGLC is plain about it: "Any time you pay a price for a chance to win a prize, a raffle licence is needed." Its list of what needs a licence includes "50/50", "gift basket draws" and "table draws".
Prizes handed out for game results aren't a raffle, and neither are free door prizes. AGLC's no-licence list includes "free giveaway contests." Only charitable and religious groups can apply, and the prizes must be worth at least 20% of the total ticket value. Outside Alberta, check your own province's gaming regulator.
When to order
The Alberta club leagues we checked run from early October to March. Calgary Curling Club's junior program, for one, runs October 3, 2026 to February 28, 2027. Spiels are spread through the whole season.
Order three weeks before your weekend. We email a proof within 24 hours and engrave in 1 to 3 business days once you approve it. The rest is shipping, plus a cushion for the committee to sign off on the design.
Planning the whole season? One order for every event you host gets the 10+ price and the same look all year.
Get a quote for your club's season →
Frequently asked questions
What are good bonspiel prizes?
Cash or bar credit for the top event, a custom pin for everyone, and a useful keepsake for event winners, like an engraved lidded tumbler that lives in a curling bag. Curlers on r/Curling say they have enough glassware.
How many prizes does a bonspiel need?
Multiply events by placings by four players. A 16-team spiel with four events needs 16 prizes for winners only, or 32 if runners-up get one too.
Can you engrave bonspiel prizes before you know the winners?
Yes, and you should. Engrave the event name, year and event letter, like "A Event 2026", so every prize is ready before the first draw. Names can't be done between the final and the banquet.
Do you need a licence for a bonspiel prize draw in Alberta?
Yes, if people pay for a chance to win. AGLC says any paid chance to win a prize needs a raffle licence, including 50/50s and table draws. Prizes for game results and free door prizes don't need one.
How much does it cost to enter a bonspiel?
Weekend spiels we checked on Curling Alberta's fall 2026 listings charge $300 to $320 per team, some with a banquet included. A one-day season opener in Fort Saskatchewan charges $160 a team with lunch and cash prizes for each game.
How many curlers are there in Canada?
Curling Canada lists more than 150,000 affiliated curlers and more than 900 affiliated clubs. Curling Alberta lists 30,000+ curlers and 170+ member curling centres.
Prizes curlers keep, engraved in Calgary
Send your event name, year and logo. We email a proof within 24 hours, and orders of 10+ tumblers drop to $19.25 each at checkout.
Order for your club Browse giftsChen Deng founded LAMOSE in 2017. Our tumblers are made by a steel supplier overseas and engraved in Calgary. Curler quotes are from the r/Curling thread "Favorite bonspiel prizes, trophies, freebies?" (September 2025). Bonspiel fees are from Curling Alberta's bonspiel listings and the Edmonton Seniors Open notice. Competitor prices are from each shop's own site, the raffle rules from AGLC, and the participation numbers from Curling Canada's handbook and Curling Alberta, all checked October 5, 2026. If we got something wrong, email chen@lamose.com and we'll fix it.
Share:
Corporate Gift Companies in Canada: Who to Hire for What
Christmas Party Door Prizes in Canada: The Tax Catch and a Better Idea