[Editor’s note: PEI’s Suzanne Birt rink has been a frequent participant in this event, winning it in 2003, and finishing as runners-up to four-time event winner Sherry Middaugh last year]
By Steve Green, The London Free Press
For 15 years, it was a fixture on the women’s curling schedule every October and helped raise more than $200,000 for breast cancer care and research in the London area. Its fields included Ontario, Canadian and even world champions.
Photo: Skip Sherry Middaugh watches her sweepers pick up her rock during last year’s final of the Southwestern Ontario Women’s Charity Cashspiel against Suzanne Birt (CRAIG GLOVER, The London Free Press)
But the Southwestern Ontario Women’s Charity Cashspiel is no more as dwindling entries, mostly due to competition with Grand Slam events on either side — in Calgary Oct. 7-10 and Winnipeg Oct. 21-24 — made it harder to fill a 24-team draw.
“The (World Curling Tour) screwed us,” said Lynn Baker, who chaired the event in recent years. “We were here first and the WCT put themselves on either side of us. We’ve had the same weekend for 15 years, but the girls can’t play three weekends in a row with all that travelling. It’s just not possible.
“We’ve had a lot of great teams here over the years, including from Europe and China, and the city and curling in this area is losing because of this.
“But everything has a shelf life and this seemed to be the right time to say goodbye and leave on a good note.”