In the world of curling, the women have definitely been in the spotlight in recent days. There has been plenty of excellent competition to be seen, involving ladies’ action both on television and on the ice locally…
Last Sunday afternoon, the Scott Tournament of Hearts wrapped up in Kingston, Ontario. The top women’s teams in the country were there vying for a national title, with British Columbia represented by skip Kelly Scott and her squad from Kelowna.
Scott did well, going 8-3 in the round-robin portion of the tournament to qualify for the playoffs. The B.C. team lost to Team Canada’s Heather Nedohin in the three-versus-four playoff game, but rebounded to defeat Nedohin 10-8 in the bronze medal contest to finish third overall.
But the story of the week was the young team from Ontario. At age 23, skip Rachel Homan was cool and calm and played brilliantly. The team’s only round-robin loss was at the hands of four-time champion Jennifer Jones from Manitoba. The experienced Jones was favoured to win, especially after going undefeated in the round-robin. In the playoffs, however, Homan defeated Manitoba twice. The final was a 9-6 win for the youthful Ontario team, much to the delight of the partisan crowd. Homan’s team will now represent Canada at the world women’s curling championships, beginning March 16 in Riga, Latvia.
Here in town, curling action recently was also highlighted by women’s play – in this case the annual Senior Ladies’ (50-plus) Bonspiel. A total of 24 teams took part, including seven entries from out of town. As always, the event was great fun. This year’s theme was Calling All Sports Enthusiasts. Many teams dressed up to represent various different sports and some performed skits during a banquet provided by Livewire Catering.
On the ice, there was some excellent curling. The eventual top team, going undefeated to win the A event, was that of Nanaimo skip Marg Obee, third Noreen Martin, second Sally Noonan and lead Moyra Graham. In second place came the local foursome skipped by Kelly Meikle. Others on the runner-up team were Yvonne Wenaus, Marg Carter and Riley Madeline.
First and second places in B event were also taken by Nanaimo entries. First went to skip Jessie Whittam, along with her third Terrie Fraser, second Denise Wood and lead Trudy Knelson. In second place was skip Darcy Dreger and her teammates Patty Pedersen, Laurie Grobowsky and Kellie Rice.
An entry from Esquimalt skipped by Ethel Vincent was the top team in the bonspiel’s C event. In second place came Nanaimo skip Mary Trimble, together with her team of Liz Fraser, Sylvia Johnson and Norma Bewley.
Winners of D event were the foursome of Sheila Dale, Judy Maitland, Linda Mergens and Lori Diack. Jill McGlenen skipped her Nanaimo team of Shirley Cookman, Sharon Luttrell and Marlene Mounce to second place.
Congratulations go, not only to the top teams, but also to the bonspiel organizing committee. Anne Marie Powell, Pat Wardrop, Doris Fergusson, Penny Crossen, Mary Meehan and the other volunteers did a great job in running a very successful event.
Now, the focus shifts to men’s curling teams during the week ahead. Televised games begin today from the Tim Hortons Brier men’s national championships in Edmonton. Representing British Columbia will be the New Westminster team skipped by Andrew Bilesky. Bilesky won the provincial title last month at the B.C. Championships held in Parksville.
Locally, the Nanaimo Curling Centre this coming week is playing host to the Pacific Coast Masters’ Curling Association and B.C. Interior Masters’ Curling Association combined provincial playdowns. Representing our area will be the Nanaimo team comprised of Frank Voysey, Bob Franklin, Tom Renton, Dan Danylchuk and Bob Hungar.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair and show good sportsmanship.