The Dominion Curling Club Championship is an annual event for men’s and women’s curling teams who have won their respective local club championships. Winning teams from each club play down to produce a provincial/territorial champion from all ten provinces and three territories, plus a separate entry for Northern Ontario, and then move on to compete at the national level. This year’s national “The Dominion” starts Monday at the Scarboro Golf & Country Club in Scarborough Ont.
PEI, who has an opening round bye, and begins play Tuesday against Quebec at 10:30 am Atlantic (men) and 2:15 pm (women) is represented on the women’s side by the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club team of Nola Murphy (Skip), Donna Arsenault (Third), Paulette Richard (Second), and Elspeth Carmody (Lead). The PEI men’s rink is from the Crapaud Community Curling Club, and includes Alan Inman (Skip), Steven Thomson (Third), Gordon Fall (Second) and Tony Quigley (Lead). The PEI rinks also play Nunavut on Tuesday at 5:45 AT (men) and 9:15 pm (women). Here is the complete draw (Eastern times):
| Date | Time | Draw | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Bye |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 19 | 4:45pm | Men Draw 1 | BC vs MB | YT vs AB | NO vs NB | QC vs SK | NU vs ON | NS vs NL | NT & PE |
| Nov 19 | 8:15pm | Women Draw 2 | BC vs MB | YT vs AB | NO vs NB | QC vs SK | NU vs ON | NS vs NL | NT & PE |
| Nov 20 | 9:30am | Men Draw 3 | NS vs ON | PE vs QC | SK vs NU | NO vs AB | NT vs BC | MB vs YT | NB & NL |
| Nov 20 | 1:15pm | Women Draw 4 | NS vs ON | PE vs QC | SK vs NU | NO vs AB | NT vs BC | MB vs YT | NB & NL |
| Nov 20 | 4:45pm | Men Draw 5 | NT vs YT | MB vs NO | NL vs ON | PE vs NU | NB vs AB | SK vs NS | BC & QC |
| Nov 20 | 8:15pm | Women Draw 6 | NT vs YT | MB vs NO | NL vs ON | PE vs NU | NB vs AB | SK vs NS | BC & QC |
| Nov 21 | 9:30am | Women Draw 7 | PE vs SK | NL vs NU | NT vs MB | NB vs YT | ON vs QC | AB vs BC | NO & NS |
| Nov 21 | 1:15pm | Men Draw 8 | PE vs SK | NL vs NU | NT vs MB | NB vs YT | ON vs QC | AB vs BC | NO & NS |
| Nov 21 | 4:45pm | Women Draw 9 | MB vs NB | NS vs PE | YT vs BC | SK vs NL | NO vs NT | NU vs QC | AB & ON |
| Nov 21 | 8:15pm | Men Draw 10 | MB vs NB | NS vs PE | YT vs BC | SK vs NL | NO vs NT | NU vs QC | AB & ON |
| Nov 22 | 9:30am | Men Draw 11 | NU vs NS | BC vs NB | AB vs NT | ON vs PE | QC vs NL | YT vs NO | MB & SK |
| Nov 22 | 1:15pm | Women Draw 12 | NU vs NS | BC vs NB | AB vs NT | ON vs PE | QC vs NL | YT vs NO | MB & SK |
| Nov 22 | 4:45pm | Men Draw 13 | NL vs PE | QC vs NS | ON vs SK | BC vs NO | AB vs MB | NB vs NT | YT & NU |
| Nov 22 | 8:15pm | Women Draw 14 | NL vs PE | QC vs NS | ON vs SK | BC vs NO | AB vs MB | NB vs NT | YT & NU |
| Nov 23 | TBA | Men & Women | Tie-breakers (if necessary) | ||||||
| Nov 23 | TBA | Men & Women | Semi-Final | ||||||
| Nov 24 | 10:45am | Women | Final | ||||||
| Nov 24 | 2:00pm | Men | Final | ||||||
Photo (L-R): Nola Murphy, Donna Arsenault, Paulette Richard, Elspeth Carmody
The Island women’s team are looking forward to representing their province on the national stage, and say that they have one ritual, which they found served them well at Provincial Playdowns: “always take the first practice”. They are raising funds for the Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA), and will be bringing gifts from Summerside for the silent auction that will be held during the Championship. Asked how the team would describe themselves, they responded, playfully, “as winners!”
Photo (L-R): Alan Inman, Steven Thomson, Gordon Fall, Tony Quigley
Hailing from a small community, the PEI men have been friends for many years; Alan and Steven have been close friends since childhood. The 2011 curling season was the team’s first year curling together and they “enjoyed the fellowship tremendously.”
While the men aren’t into superstitions, they do have one team ritual: Tony always calls the coin toss and Gordon (aka Gordie) always throws the rock to the button for hammer when required.
When asked to describe their team in one word, the men say “fun filled!”
The team is also raising money for the CPA with the support of their community, friends and family. Asked what they are most looking forward to about The Dominion Curling Club Championship 2012, the men say: “Our team is certainly looking forward to playing other curlers across Canada, to meeting and making many new friends. We would like to take this opportunity to thank The Dominion for their continued sponsorship of this great Canadian Curling event.”
The event website is: http://www.curling.ca/thedominioncurls/
