Prince Edward Island will be hosting three Stick Curling championships this season, with Provincial, Maritime, and Canadian Open championship titles on the line.

The dates of the Maritime championship in Montague have now been advanced a week, to March 12-14.

Stick Curling, where the curling rock is delivered using a delivery stick rather than the traditional “hack” delivery method, has been growing rapidly on PEI since curlers here first started using “the stick” over 15 years ago. The delivery stick allows curlers with knee problems or other mobility challenges to keep in the game, and has even brought those who never curled before into the sport.

Stick curlers often curl in regular leagues, and also have their own variant of the game, “2 Person Stick Curling” where there are two, instead of four, members per team, 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. No stone may be removed from play until the fourth stone of each end. Games are six ends and take about an hour to play.

Most of the clubs on PEI now have regular “Stick Curling” leagues, and the provincial Stick Curling Championships are now in their seventh year. 2013 will be a big year for PEI stick curling, with the Maritime championship, which rotates among the three Maritime provinces, taking place here, and, for the first time, the Canadian Open Stick Curling Championship will also be hosted here.

The Western Community Curling Club in Alberton is the site of the 2013 Curl PEI/Ferguson Funeral Homes Provincial Stick Curling Championships, which take place February 19-22. Defending champions in the open division are the Floyd Stewart/Gordon MacDonald duo from the Montague Curling Club, who edged the three-time defending champion Walter Callaghan/John Vincent twosome from Western by a 5-4 score in last year’s final. The Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke rink from the Cornwall Curling Club are three-time defending champions in the women’s division, finishing with a perfect 5-0 record last year. The 2012 runners-up were the team of Audrey Callaghan of Western, and Ann Barwise of the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary.

Entries for the provincial championship closed on January 25, with 16 Open division teams, and three Women’s division rinks signed up. Rosters can be viewed at peicurling.com/stick.

The top four open division teams, and the top two women’s rinks from this year’s provincial championships from all three Maritime provinces earn the right to compete in the Maritime Stick Curling Championships, March 12-14 (revised dates) at the Montague Curling Club. The Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke duo are the defending women’s champs, and also won in 2010. The New Brunswick rink of Grace Donald and Diane Gallant were last year’s runners-up. The Floyd Stewart/Gordon MacDonald rink were runners-up in the open division last year, losing to the Carl Duggan/Keith Bennett team from Nova Scotia in the final.

The top two open division teams from the provincials also earn the right to compete in the 2013 Canadian Open Stick Curling Championship, April 1-4 at the Cornwall Curling Club. The defending champs from last year’s event in Regina are the Earl Stephenson and Warren Johnson team from Winnipeg MB. The Montague Curling Club rink of Basil and Sterling Higginbotham won the B consolation prize.

Although this is an “open” event,  entries are reserved for the top two teams from each of BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan. Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. There are 32 spots available for other teams, for a total of 48 teams. Entry fee for this event is $120 per 2 person team, with a pay-per-win format, 5 games guaranteed, plus a banquet, and championship and consolation events. Entry deadline is March 1st. For more info, contact Shirley Lank  at (902) 621-0258 or [email protected], or visit StickCurling.ca. To enter the national event, send team roster with cheque to: 2013 PEI-National Stick. 780 Route 225, North Wiltshire, PE   C0A 1Y0.