(with info from Wikipedia). The 2012 CIS/CCA Curling Championships take place March 14 to 18 at the Welland Curling Club in Welland, Ontario. The host university of the event will be Brock University, located in nearby St. Catharines. The winners of the event will go on to represent Canada at the 2013 Winter Universiade in Maribor, Slovenia.
Eight teams of each gender will compete at the championships, including two from Western Canada, two from Atlantic Canada, and three from Ontario, including the hosts, Brock University. Quebec held one spot each in the men’s and women’s championships, but chose not to use their entries, so the spots were filled by a team from Western Canada on the men’s side and a team from Ontario on the women’s side. The teams will compete in a round robin, and at the conclusion of the round robin, the first place team will receive a bye straight through to the final, and the second and third place teams will play for the second spot in the final.
Photo by Shelley Ebbett (L-R): Brett Gallant, Alex MacFadyen, Sam Ramsay, Connor MacPhee
Atlantic Canada is represented on the Men’s side by the Brett Gallant team from UPEI, and the Robert Mayhew rink from Acadia. Other members of the Gallant foursome are third Alex MacFadyen, second Sam Ramsay, and lead Connor MacPhee, with coach Kathie Gallant. The Acadia team also includes Michael Brophy, Alex Trites, and Ben Creaser, with alternate Luke Melanson, and coach Alan Mayhew. The Mayhew family are well-known to Island curlers, as Alan was a member of PEI’s 1977 World Junior Men’s team, and is a member of the PEI Sports and Curling halls of fame.women’s rink
The Atlantic women’s rinks are the Erin Porter team from Memorial University of Newfoundland, which includes Alysha Renouf, Julie Devereaux, and Carolyn Suley, with alternate Erica Trickett, and coach Mark Brophy, and the St. Mary’s University rink skipped by Seven Mile Bay PEI native Anita Casey, backed up by Sara Spafford, Mackenzie Proctor, and Julia Williams, with coach Jim Burgess.
Round robin play gets underway at 8 pm Atlantic Wednesday, and the event wraps up with the finals Sunday afternoon at 3 Atlantic time. Click for draw schedule.
Results will be available at www.curling.ca.