Some of the best – and most experienced – curlers from across the country are set to compete on local ice next week, as the Cloverdale and Peace Arch clubs get set to jointly host the 2018 National Masters Curling Championships.
The week-long competition begins with opening ceremonies Sunday evening in Cloverdale, and on Monday, teams will hit the ice at both clubs, beginning at 9 a.m. In total, 26 teams – 14 men’s and 12 women’s – will take part in the event, which is for those 60 years old and above.
The event has been in the works for more than a year – Curl BC announced in February 2017 that the two clubs had been chosen as hosts.
“It’s a been a long time, but we’re down to the very short strokes here now,” said event co-ordinator Nigel Easton, a longtime curling club manager and Curl BC executive who came out retirement last March to help run the competition.
Of the 26 teams involved, three are from B.C. – two men’s teams plus one women’s rink. Easton said the second men’s team is a result of Nunavut not sending a team.
“The host province always gets two (teams) in that instance, because otherwise we’d have 13, which doesn’t work,” he explained.
Cloverdale Curling Club member Craig Lepine will skip B.C.’s first rink – along with third Neil Houston, second Craig McLeod, lead Kevin Jeannotte and coach Karen Lepine – while the second team will be skipped by Kelowna’s Rob Koffski.
Lepine’s team is the current provincial champion, Easton noted, adding that Lepine is in southern Ontario this week competing at another national tournament – Canadian Senior (50+) Championships. That event wraps up Thursday.
Koffski’s crew – made up of curlers from Kamloops and Summerland in addition to Kelowna – features Pat Ryan, who may may be familiar to longtime Canadian curling fans. Ryan, who will serve as a third on Koffski’s team, is a former world champion skip and a three-time Brier winner.
B.C.’s women’s team brings a championship pedigree, as well – led by skip Pat Sanders. Sanders won a women’s world curling championship in 1987, is a two-time senior champion (2009 and ‘11) and was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 2012.
Sunday’s opening ceremonies begin at 6:30 p.m., and are to include speeches from dignitaries including White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin and South Surrey-White Rock MP Gordie Hogg. RCMP members, in red serge, will also be on hand, and the Surrey Firefighters Pipe Band will perform.
Beginning Monday, matches will be held at both clubs at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., with the exception of Wednesday, at which time a banquet is scheduled for Elements Casino in Cloverdale. The final games are scheduled for Sunday, April 8 – the men’s and women’s bronze-medal games will be played at Peace Arch Curling Club at 9 a.m., while the gold-medal matches will be played in Cloverdale, with the women playing at 11 a.m. and the men at 2 p.m.
For more information on the event, visit www.2018masterscurling.com