(Sport PEI) Finalists for the SCORE! Team of the Year award have been announced by Sport PEI, and it is an impressive list of nominees who will be recognized at the annual awards banquet, to be held April 6 at the Rodd Royalty in Charlottetown.
Two national champions and a silver medallist make up the finalists, in what was arguably the finest year ever for team sports on PEI. In addition to the announced finalists, other outstanding performers in 2010 included the Charlottetown Fawcett’s, national fastpitch silver medallists, and the Special Olympics softball team, who won a national title and earned a place at the 2011 World Games in Athens in May.
The three finalists for the Team of the Year award are the Churchill Arms (soccer), Kathy O’Rourke rink (curling), and the Robert Campbell rink (curling).
Churchill Arms
The John Diamond coached Churchill Arms made Island soccer history in 2010 by winning a gold medal at the BMO National Senior Soccer Championships held in Charlottetown.
It was the culmination of many years of planning for the team, the majority of whom had won bronze at the previous two national events.
Captained by veteran Jon Vos and with the likes of Ryan Anstey, Brett Norton and Michel Daoust-Wheatley in attack, the Islanders were in a tough pool but came through with three wins and a tie without conceding a goal, thanks largely to outstanding goalkeeping and defence, anchored by Matt Lally and Rob Aiken.
It was a big crowd at UPEI on the day of the final, and the Islanders were up against a very impressive Gorge FC team from BC. In a game which was end to end, it was local talent Brett Norton and Ryan Anstey who secured an incredible win in overtime, setting off scenes of wild celebration which will never be forgotten by those in attendance, and those who support PEI soccer.
Kathy O’Rourke Rink
The Kathy O’Rourke Curling Rink from Charlottetown caught the imagination of the whole nation in 2010, with an outstanding run at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sault Ste. Marie, which almost resulted in a fairytale win.
Islanders were glued to their sets throughout the week as the team of O’Rourke, Tricia Affleck, Erin Carmody and Geri-Lynn Ramsay curled superbly to record an 8-3 record, and first-place after the regular standings, before defeating Ontario 10-6 in the semi-final, a game in which Carmody curled 93% throwing skip stones.
Standing in the way of a first Scotties title for PEI was three-time title holder Jennifer Jones and her Team Canada Rink, and PEI made the early running , opening up a 6-3 lead heading into the 7th end, before Jones battled to lead 7-6, with PEI tying it again in the 10th to force extra ends.
Alas, one in the extra end was enough for Jones to claim her 4th title, but it had been a fantastic effort by PEI, with Carmody winning the Sandra Schmirler award as play-off MVP, and the whole team recognized with a hero’s reception back at the Charlottetown Club on their return.
Robert Campbell Curling Rink
Charlottetown’s Robert Campbell won a national mixed title in Manitoba back in 1989, and it was a repeat performance in 2010 as his team of third Rebecca Jean MacPhee, second Robbie Doherty, and lead Jackie Reid dominated from start to finish, earning the skip a second Canadian championship.
It was a confident quartet that headed to the small Manitoba community of Morris in November, having secured the provincial title the previous March. Skip Campbell admitted he expected the team to do well, but their round-robin play exceeded all expectations when they put up a 10-1 record to earn a bye into the final. Adapting well to the good ice, the team drew well throughout the tournament and was dogged in holding on once they took a lead.
In the final the Charlottetown Rink came up against the only team to beat them in the round-robin, Terry McNamee’s Manitoba rink, and it was a cat-and-mouse affair with no team scoring more than a single.
PEI held a 3-2 lead heading into the 9th before McNamee pulled off only the second steal in the game with a shot to the button, but in the 10th a miss on a double-raise takeout gave PEI the point it needed to win the championship.
Campbell was named all-star skip for the championship, while he, and Rebecca Jean, will represent Canada at the World Mixed Doubles Championships next month in St. Paul, Minnesota.