The Pepsi Junior Provincial Curling Championships, for curlers age 20 and under, takes place January 2-6 at the Charlottetown Curling Club.
Three-time defending champion Brett Gallant is back looking to defend his junior men’s title, while Erin Carmody is looking for her third consecutive junior women’s crown. Gallant has one lineup change this year, with Jamie Danbrook, from last year’s British Columbia junior championship rink, and now attending school in PEI, stepping in to replace Alex MacFadyen, who is attending school in Nova Scotia. Darcy Birch joins the Carmody rink at lead, with Lisa Moeirke moving to the Katie Sharkey rink.
Other contenders in the nine-team junior men’s section, include two-time 17 and under champions the Sam Ramsay rink of Summerside, and the Spencer Pitre rink of Alberton, last year’s runners-up, along with Charlottetown teams skipped by Mitchell O’Shea, Patrick Shepherd, Nick van Ouwerkerk and Tyler Davies, the Matthew Nabuurs rink from Montague, and the Parker Clements foursome from the Maple Leaf club in O’Leary,
The junior women’s side also has nine teams, and includes the Sarah Fullerton team, two-time 17 and Under winners, from Cornwall, along with their clubmates the Sarah Clow and Tricia Sanderson rinks. Katie Sharkey and Lindsay Hughes are skipping teams from Charlottetown, while Tiffany Sweet and Nikki Arsenault are the entries from the Maple Leaf. Besides Carmody, the Silver Fox is represented by the Anita Casey team.
Both the junior men’s and junior women’s divisions will play a triple-knockout draw, with the winners of the three sections advancing to a two game playoff round, unless the same team wins all three sections, in which case they will become the champion without the need for the playoffs.
Play gets underway in Charlottetown Friday morning at 8, with subsequent draws at 11:30 am, along with a 2 pm draw at the Cornwall Curling Club, and a 4 pm draw back at Charlottetown.
Saturday and Sunday draws are at 8, 11:30, 4, and 7:30. Monday draws are at 9:30 am and 2:30 pm, while the two game championship round (if needed), goes Tuesday, also at 9:30 am and 2:30 pm.
The winning junior men’s and women’s rinks will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Salmon Arm BC, Jan. 31-Feb. 8.
Team Rosters:
Junior Men’s (skip to lead, coach, club)
Matthew Nabuurs, Kevin Rice, Mark Nabuurs, Keaghan Matheson, coach Arny Nabuurs, Montague Curling Club
Sam Ramsay, Justin Richard, Eric Pidgeon, Corey Miller, coach Peter Pidgeon, Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club
Spencer Pitre, Billie Lewis, Daniel McCarthy, Shawn Pitre, coach Roger Gavin, Western Community Curling Club (Alberton)
Brett Gallant, Adam Casey, Anson Carmody, Jamie Danbrook, coaches Peter Gallant, Kathie Gallant, Charlottetown Curling Club
Parker Clements, Mitch Rowley, Brandon Clements, Mark Cousins, coaches Keith Rowley, Reggie Clements, Maple Leaf Curling Club (O’Leary)
Tyler Davies, Patrick Moore, Joey Farquhar, Jonathon Schut, coach Lorianne Davies, Charlottetown Curling Club
Nick van Ouwerkerk, Timothy Cullen, Brent Campbell, Patrick Callbeck, coach Robbie Roberts, Charlottetown Curling Club
Patrick Shepherd, Adam Kassner, Taylor McInnis, Kyle Hughes, coach Butch McGee, Charlottetown Curling Club
Mitchell O’Shea, Jonah MacDonald, Michael LeBlanc, Connor MacPhee, coach A.J. Campbell, Charlottetown Curling Club
Junior Women’s (skip to lead, coach, club)
Sarah Fullerton, Michelle McQuaid, Whitney Young, Sara MacRae, coach Brenda MacMillan, Cornwall Curling Club
Katie Sharkey, Alexis Wright, Lisa Moerike, Martha MacIntyre, coaches Kathy O’Rourke and Pam Wright, Charlottetown Curling Club
Anita Casey, Madeline Campbell, Dannielle Chaisson, Bethany MacDonald coach Leo Stewart, Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club (Summerside)
Erin Carmody, Geri-Lynn Ramsay, Jessica van Ouwerkerk, Darcee Birch coach Al Ledgerwood, Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club (Summerside)
Sarah Clow, Brielle Quilty, Christina Hennessey, Courtney Moore, coaches Nancy Yeo, Angela Hodgson, Cornwall Curling Club
Tiffany Sweet, Chantal Clements, Kathleen O’Meara, Laura O’Meara, coach Ralph Sweet, Maple Leaf Curling Club (O’Leary)
Nikki Arsenault, Marlana Lockhart, Marissa McCarthy, Meaghan Henderson, coaches Connie Ellis, Eric McCarthy, Maple Leaf Curling Club
Lindsay Hughes, Christina Keen, Victoria Evans, Monica Leblanc, coach Gayle Johnston, Charlottetown Curling Club
Tricia Sanderson, Amanda Holm , Aleya Quilty, Krystal Peterson, 5th player Kelli-Lynn Younker, coach Pat Quilty, Cornwall Curling Club
Here are the opening draws:
Draw 1: Friday, January 2nd, 8 am at the Charlottetown Curling Club
Sarah Fullerton (Cornwall) vs
Erin Carmody (Silver Fox)Tricia Sanderson (Cornwall) vs Sarah Clow (Cornwall)
Anita Casey (Silver Fox) vs Katie Sharkey (Ch’town)
Tiffany Sweet (Maple Leaf) vs Nikki Arsenault (Maple Leaf)
Draw 2: Friday, January 2nd, 11:30 am at Charlottetown
Parker Clements (Maple Leaf) vs Nick van Ouwerkerk (Ch’town)
Patrick Shepherd (Ch’town) vs Brett Gallant (Ch’town)
Tyler Davies (Ch’town) vs Sam Ramsay (Silver Fox)
Mitchell O’Shea (Ch’town) vs Spencer Pitre (Western)
Draw 3: Friday, January 2nd, 2:00 pm at the Cornwall Curling Club
Lindsay Hughes (Ch’town) vs winner Fullerton/Carmody game at 8 am.
Draw 4: Friday, January 2nd, 4 pm at Charlottetown
Matthew Nabuurs (Montague) vs winner Clements/van Ouwerkerk game at 8 am
Complete draw, schedule, and end-by-end results at peicurling.com/juniors