The provincial curling championship season is in full swing, with three events this week – the semi-finals and finals of the Credit Unions of PEI/Curl PEI Seniors championships are planned for 1 and 6 pm today, weather permitting, the Ferguson Funeral Homes/Curl PEI Stick championships get underway Tuesday and 9 am and conclude on Thursday, while the O’Connor Glass/Curl PEI Under 18 championships start on Thursday and wrap up on Sunday.
Stick
The Western Community Curling Club in Alberton is the site of the 2013 Ferguson Funeral Homes / Curl PEI Provincial Stick Curling Championships, which take place February 19-21. 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.
In this year’s event, the 16 team Open division is divided into two pools, who will each play a single round robin, with the top three teams from each pool advancing to the quarter-final round. The second and third place teams from the opposite pools will play off with the winners playing the first place teams from the opposite pools in the semi-finals and the semi winners squaring off in the championship final, with the semi-final losers playing in the consolation final.
The 3 team Women’s division will play a double round robin with the top team winning the event. A final game will be played only in the event that two teams are tied for first.
The top four Open division teams, and the top two Women’s division rinks from this year’s event all earn the right to compete in the Maritime Stick Curling Championships, March 12-14 (revised dates) here in PEI at the Montague Curling Club. The Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke duo are the defending women’s champs, and also won in 2010. The Floyd Stewart/Gordon MacDonald rink were runners-up in the open division last year.
The top two Open division teams also earn the right to compete in the 2013 Canadian Open Stick Curling Championship, April 1-4, also here in PEI, 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. This is an “open” event, but reserves entries 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.
In stick curling there are two curlers per team, who deliver their rocks with delivery sticks, 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. For more information on stick curling, including complete rules of play, visit www.stickcurling.ca.
Here are the teams competing in the 2013 PEI Stick championships:
Open (men’s and mixed teams) Division (skip and third-club)
Robert Acorn/Willie Nicholson-Charlottetown Curling Complex
Sherrill Barwise /Orville Willis -Maple Leaf Curling Club
Eddie Bernard/Roger Gavin -Western Community Curling Club
Walter Callaghan/ John Vincent -Western Community Curling Club
Merrill Cronin /Barry Craswell -Cornwall Curling Club
Bill Glydon/ Eldon Hardy -Western Community Curling Club
Alvin Hackett/Janet Hackett -Western Community Curling Club
Bazil Higginbotham/Sterling Higginbotham -Montague Curling Club
Bob Leard /Billy Power-Montague Curling Club
Roddie MacLean /Paul Field -Cornwall Curling Club
Fr Art Pendergast /Peter Larter – Western Community Curling Club
Fidele Richard /Alva Clarey -Cornwall Curling Club
Robby Robertson /Winston Keough -Western Community Curling Club
Floyd Stewart /Gordon MacDonald -Montague Curling Club
Sterling Stratton -Ernie Stavert-Cornwall Curling Club
Bryan Sutherland /Elaine Hughes -Cornwall Curling Club
Women’s Division (skip and third-club)
Ann Barwise /Audrey Callaghan -Western Community Curling Club
Shirley Lank/Mary Plamondon -Cornwall Curling Club
Ruth Stavert/Gloria Clarke -Cornwall Curling Club
Here are the opening draws, on Tuesday February 19:
9 am: Bob Leard vs Sherrill Barwise, Eddie Bernard vs Sterling Stratton, Merrill Cronin vs Bryan Sutherland
10:15 am: Fidele Richard vs Robert Acorn, Shirley Lank vs Ann Barwise, Alvin Hackett vs Roddie MacLean
11:30 am: Robby Robertson vs Floyd Stewart, Fr. Art Pendergast vs Walter Callaghan, Bazil Higginbotham vs Bill Glydon
The other women’s team, skipped by Ruth Stavert, plays Shirley Lank at 2 pm
The women’s final, if needed, goes Wednesday at 7:30 pm, while the men’s final and consolation final take place Thursday at 5 pm.
Complete draw, and results available at PEICurling.com/stick
Under 18
The Montague Curling Club is hosting the O’Connor Glass/Curl PEI Provincial Under 18 (formerly the 17 and Under) Curling Championships, from February 21-24. The defending champions the Matthew MacLean rink from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, and the Veronica Smith team from the Cornwall Curling Club are not in the event this year, so there will be new champions.
The winning rinks advance to their choice of either the Atlantic Under 18 Curling Championships, March 28-31 at the Caribou Curling Club in Stephenville NL, OR the Optimist International Under 18 Curling Championships, March 27-31 in Surrey and Langley BC, with the runners-up going to the other event. Starting last year, the option to attend the Optimist rotates annually between the four Atlantic Provinces, and 2013 is PEI’s turn.
The six U18 men’s teams will play a single round robin, with the second and third place teams playing in a semi-final, with the winner facing the first place team in the championship game.
The four U18 women’s rinks will play a double round robin, with the top two teams advancing to the final.
The finals go at 3:30 pm on Sunday if there are no tiebreakers at 10 am, or 7 pm if there are 10 am tiebreakers.
Here are the team rosters (skip to lead, coaches-club)
U18 Men’s
Justin Campbell, Jordan MacLean, Ben Gardiner, Brett Murphy, coach Eldon Kilbride
– Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club
Owen Collier (throws 3rd), John Campbell(throws 4th), Dawson Chatman, Jayde Maynard, coaches Arnie Nabuurs,Nancy Collier-Montague Curling Club
Donald DeWolfe, Avery Wells, Riley Taweel, Nicholas Johnston, coach Aleya Quilty-Cornwall Curling Club
Alex MacFadyen, James Dalton, Matthew MacDonald, Parker MacFadyen, coach Dave MacFadyen – Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club
Tony Nabuurs, Parker O’Connor, Alan MacLean, Noah O’Connor, coach Glen MacLean-Charlottetown Curling Complex, Montague Curling Club, Maple Leaf Curling Club
Tyler Smith, Brooks Roche, Dylan Lowery, Ryan Lowery, coaches Tammy Dewar, Kevin Smith-Montague Curling Club / Crapaud Community Curling Club
U18 Women’s
Heather Drake, Danielle Collings, Emma Nabuurs, Chloe Jardine, coach Tammy Dewar-
Montague Curling Club
Emily Keen, Jessica Watts, Kayla Schut, Jenny Mutch, coaches Butch McGee, David Ross
– Charlottetown Curling Complex / Cornwall Curling Club
Jenny McLean, Lauren MacFadyen, Ava Whitney-Coulter, Emily Vaniderstine, coach Don
Vickerson – Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club
Rachel O’Connor (throws 3rd), Meghan Ching (throws 4th), Lauren Lenentine, Breanne Burgoyne, coach Pat Quilty-Cornwall Curling Club
Here are the opening draws::
Thursday, Feb. 21 at 10 am (Men’s)
Justin Campbell vs Donald DeWolfe, Alex MacFadyen vs Tony Nabuurs, Tyler Smith vs Owen Collier
Thursday, Feb. 21 at 2:30 pm (Women’s, plus two men’s games)
Emily Keen vs Rachel O’Connor, Heather Drake vs Jenny McLean, Justin Campbell vs Owen Collier, Donald DeWolfe vs Tony Nabuurs)
Full draw and end by end results at PEICurling.com/under18
