Men’s Curling Championships - Penticton

The competitions begin almost as soon as the curling season starts. The quality of the competition is good and it gets better as the season moves on. It starts in the local clubs where players, coaches and consultants gather to view and select the best of the best. Rinks play their best under many a critical eye belonging to former club and provincial champions. The criterion for player selection is mainly subjective but shot averages are important and somehow the cream of the crop rises to the top and the teams selected are arguably the best that can be. The Clubs then send their best to the Regional play downs where the competition is keen and gets even better. Then, if your ‘rink’ is ‘the one of the best’, you get to go to the Inter-Regional competition. Curl BC sponsors two Inter-regional’s. This year the Interior Regional was conducted in Summerland and the Coastal Regional in Victoria.  The Inter-Regionals allow four teams each to represent their region at the next level, the BC Championship.  Of course there are a few other rinks from the outlying areas that also make it to the Championship play downs to ensure provincial representation. Also allowed to compete is the defending Championship Rink from the previous year providing they have retained the core of their winning team. This year the BC Men’s Championship took place in Penticton from February 4th to the 10th. (See the related story this page). The competition did not disappoint. One might think that watching rocks slide down a narrow sheet of ice may not be the most active of sports however, you might try sweeping some of the better thrown shots through a groups of guard stones to take shot position while dispersing opponent rocks to non-counting pylons. The curling was exciting. The championship team was decided only after curling of the final rock in a forced and final 11th end in the Championship round. The play could not have been better. The names of the Rinks involved were eminently recognizable in the sport of Canadian Curling. It seems as though some of the younger generation are now taking their place in the sport of their older parents and grandparents. Longer-term participants in the sport of Canadian curling will recognize the names of McAulay, Ursel, and Folk. It will be Kelowna’s own Ursel Rink that will move along to the Canadian Men’s Curling Championship (The Tim Horton’s Brier) from the 8th to 16th Mar 2008 in Winterpeg. It is the second time McAulay will have missed the opportunity due to the vagaries of the final few rocks. While we have had our eyes on the men the women have been busy as well. As we write this article the Scotties Tournament of Hearts is playing with no less excitement and skill. For the ladies the next major will be the World Women’s Curling Championships (Ford) in Vernon at the Multiplex 22 to 30 March 2008. Most of the premier tournaments appear on the TSN TV Network where the coverage is just terrific. The Canadian Senior Mens’ and Womens’ Championships will be played in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan from the 22nd to the 30th of March 2008.  So, if you can’t be there tune in the TV and send the odd email to the organizers congratulating them for their efforts. At the same time, make special mention of the volunteers that are helping them develop and market this wonderful sport.   For more information go to: Curling Canada: http://www.curling.ca/index.asp   Strauss Canada Cup in Kamloops: http://seasonofchampions.ca/2008canadacup/index.asp Tournament of Hearts: http://seasonofchampions.ca/2008toh/index.asp Tim Horton’s Brier: http://seasonofchampions.ca/2008brier/index.asp Curl BC: http://www.curlbc.ca/content/home.asp Canadian Seniors: http://seasonofchampions.ca/2008seniors/index.asp - 30  -

 

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