The Western Community Curling Club in Alberton is the scene for the 2014 O’Connor Glass / Curl PEI Provincial Under 16 Curling Championships, which begin Thursday evening. The 7 pm opening draw will also include four games at the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary, with all eight girl’s rinks opening in O’Leary, and four of the five boy’s teams beginning play in Alberton. All games after the 7 pm Thursday draw will be at Western Community.

The girls play a triple knockout draw, qualifying four teams for a Page championship round, while the boys play a round robin, with the second and third place teams advancing to a semi-final, and the winner of the semi playing the 1st place team in the final..

Last year, the Rachel O’Connor rink from the Cornwall Curling Club went undefeated to win the girl’s section, while the Alex MacFadyen foursome from the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside won the boy’s. MacFadyen and O’Connor are both back this year, with O’Connor playing third on the Lauren Lenentine rink. MacFadyen skipped last weekend’s winning team in the Under 18 event. His second from that event, Matthew MacDonald, is with him in this one as well, and he has picked up the runner-up skip from the U18, Tyler Smith as his third. and Ben Gardiner, from the Justin Campbell team as his lead.

Friday draws are at 10 am and 2 and 7 pm, with the opening ceremonies going at 1:15 pm. Saturday play is at 9 am, and 1, 5, and 9 pm. The girls’ Page round, where the 3rd and 4th qualifiers play off in one game, and the 1st and 2nd place teams square off in the other goes at 10 am Sunday, with the winner of the 1st vs 2nd game going directly to the 6 pm final, and the loser of that game playing the winner of the 3rd vs 4th place game in the semi-final at 2 pm. The winner of that game also goes to the final.

The boys’ round robin wraps up Saturday night, with tiebreakers, if needed, following Sunday at 10 am and, if required, 2 pm. The semi-final between the 2nd and 3rd place teams following the round robin and any tiebreakers goes at 2 pm if 0 or 1 tiebreaker, and 6 pm if two. The final goes at 6 pm. If two tiebreakers are needed, the final would move to 4:30 pm Monday.

Full schedule and draws, along with team rosters and live results are all available at the event website PEICurling.com/under16