The Provincial Stick Curling Championships, sponsored by Ferguson Funeral Homes,  get underway Monday and wrap up on Wednesday at the Crapaud Community Curlng Club. Stick curling differs from traditional curling in that there are two curlers per team (not four), who deliver their rocks with delivery sticks, with each team member delivering from opposite ends. Sweeping is allowed only from the hog line to the back of the house at the playing end. Two curlers, one from each team, alternately deliver 6 stones each per end, while their teammate skips that end. The roles are then reversed, and the partners deliver the stones back. All games are six ends. A new rule  put in place last year extends the free guard zone from the hogline to the backline of the house. This means that no stone may be removed from play until the fourth stone of each end, and generally results in more rocks in play and a more exciting game.

The defending champion duo of Walter Callaghan and John Vincent from the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton are back this year, as are the Ernie Stavert/Sterling Stratton team from Cornwall and Charlottetown, who won the event the first two years.

New this year is a women’s section, with five teams entered. The twelve teams in the Men’s and Mixed division are divided into two pools. Round robin draws go Monday and Tuesday at 10 and 11:15 am, and 12:45, 2, and 3:45 pm. The championship round goes Wednesday, with second and third place in the women’s pool squaring off at 10 am, with the winner advancing to the 2 pm final against the first place finisher from the round robin. In the men’s and mixed divison, the second place teams from one pool will play the third place rinks from the other at 10 am, with the winners facing the first place teams at noon. The winners off the noon contests will face off in the 2 pm championship final to decide the winner and runner-up while the losers will play in the consolation final at the same time.

The winning and runner-up rinks earn the right to compete in the 2010 Canadian Stick Curling Championship, April 9-11 at the Fort Garry Curling Club in Winnipeg.

Live results from the PEI championship will be available at peicurling.com/stick.

Here are the team rosters and pool assignments:

Men’s/Mixed Pool A
1-Grant Laird/Vernon Chowan (Cornwall)
2-David Murphy/Bob Acorn (Ch’town)
3-Walter Callaghan/John Vincent
4-Vince Fisher/Karen Fisher (Cornwall)
5-Basil Higginbotham/Brent Mutch (Montague)
6-Philip Curley/Sterling Higginbotham (Montague)

Men’s/Mixed Pool B
1-Gordie MacDonald/Floyd Stewart (Montague)
2-Edwin Walker/Clifford Pickets (Silver Fox)
3-Ernie Stavert/Sterling Stratton (Cornwall/Ch’town)
4-Bob Leard/Barry MacDonald (Montague)
5-Johnny Ellsworth/Joey Ellsworth (Western)
6-Glen Betts/Dale Howard (Maple Leaf)

Women’s Division
1-Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke (Cornwall)
2-Audrey Callaghan/Gail Jenkins (Cornwall/Ch’town)
3-Shirley Lank/Ruth Walsh (Cornwall/Crapaud)
4-Vera Ward/Phyllis Stretch (Silver Fox)
5-Mary Plamondon/Barb Campbell (Cornwall)

Here are the round robin draws:
Monday Feb. 22
1o am: Grant Laird vs David Murphy, Ernie Stavert vs Bob Leard, Gordie MacDonald vs Edwin Walker, Walter Callaghan vs Vince Fisher
11:15 am: Johnny Ellsworth vs Glen Betts, Basil Higginbotham vs Philip Curley, Ruth Stavert vs Mary Plamondon, Shirley Lank vs Vera Ward
12:45 pm: Walter Callaghan vs Basil Higginbotham, Glen Betts vs Edwin Walker, Philip Curley vs David Murphy, Ernie Stavert vs Johnny Ellsworth
2pm: Grant Laird vs Vince Fisher, Mary Plamondon vs Vera Ward, Shirley Lank vs Audrey Callaghan, Gordie MacDonald vs Bob Laird
3:45 pm: Gordie MacDonald vs Ernie Stavert, David Murphy vs Basil Higginbotham, Grant Laird vs Walter Callaghan, Edwin Walker vs Joey Ellsworth.

Tuesday Feb. 23
10 am: Mary Plamondon vs Shirley Lank, Vince Fisher vs Philip Curley, Bob Leard vs Gordie MacDonald, Ruth Stavert vs Audrey Callaghan
11:15 am: Edwin Walker vs Bob Leard, Glen Betts vs Ernie Stavert, Philip Curley vs Walter Callaghan, Dave Murphy vs Vince Fisher
12:45 pm: Audrey Callaghan vs Vera Ward, Ruth Stavert vs Shirley Lank, Johnny Ellsworth vs Gordie MacDonald, Basil Higginbotham vs Grant Laird
2 pm: Philip Curley vs Grant Laird, Bob Leard vs Johnny Ellsworth, Vince Fisher vs Basil Higginbotham, Glen Betts vs Gordie MacDonald
3:45 pm: David Murphy vs Walter Callaghan, Audrey Callaghan vs Mary Plamondon, Edwin Walker vs Ernie Stavert, Ruth Stavert vs Vera Ward

For more information on the sport of Stick Curling, visit www.stickcurling.ca.