(by Charles Reid)

Veronica and Tyler Smith (no relation) win their divisions at the P.E.I. junior curling championships

CORNWALL — Despite not being related, Veronica Smith and Tyler Smith have a lot in common.

And more so after each won their respective Pepsi provincial junior curling titles Sunday at the Cornwall Curling Club.

Tyler’s squad scored a 6-2 win over the Christopher Gallant rink of the Charlottetown Curling Club in the men’s final while Veronica’s crew downed the Amanda MacLean rink 9-5 in the women’s final.

Guardian photo by Brian McInnis

“I don’t even know (what to say). It’s unbelievable,” said Veronica, 18, of the win over her Cornwall clubmates. “The girls were behind me the whole game. We trained so hard for this. We just went out focused. We knew we could do it.”

Veronica’s group, which went 3-1 in the round robin losing to MacLean, scored five times in the eighth end to break open a 4-4 tie.

The Smiths earned a berth in the M&M Meat Shops Canadian juniors Feb. 2 to 10, in Fort McMurray, Alta.

Tyler, 14, had a similar reaction to his squad’s victory. Also based out of the Cornwall club, it includes Alex Sutherland (third), Alex Jenkins (second) and Jonathan Schut (lead).

“I don’t know. I’m speechless,” Tyler said. “It’s amazing considering the road we took to get there.”

Tyler’s road meant a tiebreaker on Sunday for the 3-3 team, which they won in an extra end, and a semifinal win over the Cody Dixon rink from Montague to reach the final.

And like Veronica, the eighth end was the clincher in the title contest.

Up 3-2, Tyler hit a three-rock angle raise that made the score 6-2 and put things out of reach.

“We were really untouchable after that,” said Tyler, who skipped the 2011 Canada Games men’s rink and is the defending under-16 provincial champion.

As for the trips to the nationals, neither skip had an idea of what to expect, although Veronica had a few ideas.

“It’s going to be freezing,” she said with a laugh. “We have a hard month ahead of us. Have to go hard and represent our province well.”

Click to read full  story in The Guardian

Photo (L-R): Veronica Smith, Tyler Smith

The eighth end proved crucial in both games tonight in the Curl PEI/Pepsi Provincial Junior Curling Championships, at the Cornwall Curling Club, giving both the Tyler Smith and Veronica Smith rinks from the host club the edge in their games against the undefeated Christopher Gallant and Amanda MacLean teams from Charlottetown and Cornwall respectively.

Photo: Tyler Smith lines up his shot – he wants to hit his front red rock onto Gallant’s blue shot stone, avoiding the other blue stone, and stick around to lie three 

Photo: Smith makes the shot, and counts three

Fourteen year old Tyler Smith, who finished round robin play with a 3-3 win-loss record, and was playing his third game of the day after winning a quarter-final and a semi-final, had a slim 3-2 lead going into the eighth, against Gallant, who finished round robin play with a spotless 6-0 record and had a bye to the final when, with Gallant lying behind one behind a Smith guard with another Gallant rock partially covering it as well,  Smith attempted, and made, a tricky raise on his guard to knock out the Gallant counter and hang around for a triple. Gallant’s final shot in the ninth end rolled out, and it was handshake time, with a 6-2 final score.

Photo: Veronica Smith rink wants to split the front rock into the rings, and roll the shooter in, too

The split is successful – Smith counts five!

Veronica Smith’s game was tied at 4 going into the eighth, where, going into her last shot she was lying three, with another rock just inches from the rings. She attempted to split that rock onto the house and roll her shooter in as well. The rock was a bit heavy, but both stones managed to stay in the rings, and she counted five. MacLean was kept to a single in the ninth, and Smith ran her out of rocks in the 10th, for a 9-5 final score.

Photo – winning Tyler Smith rink (L-R): Allan Campbell (coach), Jonathan Schut, Alex Jenkins, Alex Sutherland, Tyler Smith, Angela Hodgson (Curl PEI)

Photo: Runner-up Christopher Gallant rink (L-R): Andrew Cameron, Taylor McInnis, Kyle Holland, Christopher Gallant, coach Peter Gallant, Bob Fowler, President Cornwall Curling Club

The Tyler Smith team includes third Alex Sutherland, second Alex Jenkins, and first stone Jonathan Schut,, with coaches Allan Campbell and Kevin Smith. Tyler, who skipped the 2011 PEI Canada Games men’s rink, and last year’s Under 16 PEI championship team,  doubled the Cody Dixon rink from Montague 8-4 in this afternoon’s semi-final, and edged the Matthew MacLean rink from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary 9-8 in an extra end in the morning quarter-final. Gallant, along with third Kyle Holland, and lead Andrew Cameron were on last year’s winning rink, skipped by Alex Matters, who is not in the event this year. Taylor McInnis joined the Gallant rink at second stone this season. The team is coached by Peter Gallant, Christopher’s father.

Smith and Dixon, MacLean,Shawn Pitre of Charlottetown, and Alex MacFadyen of Summerside all finished round robin play with 3-3 win-loss records. Draw to the button results, followed by a tie breaker game and two quarter-final games were used to determine the teams in the semi-final. Gallant beat Smith 4-2 in their round robin encounter.

Photo – winning Veronica Smith team (L-R): Paul Smith (coach), Chloe McCloskey, Sabrina Smith, Katie Fullerton, Veronica Smith, Bill Hope (coach), Bob Fowler (President, Cornwall Curling Club)

Photo: Runner-up Amanda MacLean rink (L-R): Coaches Glen MacLean and Shelley Gray, alternate Jane DiCarlo, Aleya Quilty, Emily Gray, Kassinda Bulger, Amanda MacLean, Bob Fowler, President, Cornwall Curling Club

Third Katie Fullerton, second Sabrina Smith, and lead Chloe McCloskey round out the Veronica Smith squad, who were last year’s PEI Under 18 women’s champions, and are coached by Bill Hope and Paul Smith.  Other members of the MacLean rink, who were also runners-up last year, are 3rd Kassinda Bulger, second Emily Gray, a member of last year’s Youth Olympics bronze medal team, lead Aleya Quilty, and alternate Jane DiCarlo, with coaches Shelley Gray and Glen MacLean.. Smith edged the Kaleigh MacKay rink from the Crapaud and Silver Fox clubs 4-3 in the semi-final this afternoon.

Both Smith rinks will now advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, February 2-10, in Fort McMurray Alberta.

Seven men’s and five women’s teams took part in this year’s PEI Junior Championships, sponsored by Pepsi, who announced this week that they are renewing their over 40 years of sponsorship of PEI junior curling, by at least another five years.

The semi-finals, between the second and third place teams, go at 2:30 this afternoon, with the winners facing the first place teams in the 7 pm finals as the Curl PEI/Pepsi Provincial Junior Curling Championships wrap up at the Cornwall Curling Club.

There were two very close games morning’s men’s quarter-finals, with the Tyler Smith rink from the host club edging the Matthew MacLean team from the Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary by a 9-8 extra-end score, aided by a four point third end. The other game saw the Cody Dixon rink from Montague score a deuce in the final end to edge the Shawn Pitre rink from Charlottetown 7-6. Smith and Dixon now play at 2:30, with the winner taking on first place, and undefeated, Christopher Gallant and his Charlottetown rink in the 7 pm final. Five teams had finished round robin play with identical 3-3 win-loss records, requiring skills ranking, a tiebreaker game, and the quarter-final matches to decide the semi-finalists.

The women’s semi-finalists were decided on Saturday,  with the Veronica Smith team from the host club finishing in second place with a 3-1 record, while Kaleigh MacKay and her combined Crapaud/Silver Fox rink were third, with a 2-2 record. Smith and MacKay now play in the semi-finals at 2:30, with the winner facing undefeated Amanda MacLean and her Cornwall rink in the 7 pm final.

The junior men’s and women’s champions will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, February 2-10, in Fort McMurray Alberta. Seven men’s teams and five women’s rinks took part in the Pepsi Juniors.

End by end results are available at peicurling.com/juniors

There is no admission charge to watch the games at the Cornwall Curling Club.

Welcome to the second round of the Wednesday Evening Ladder League, sponsored by Donnie Lowther Snow Removal

To make things more interesting, and minimize the number of 8:30 games you have to play, I’ve decided to try two pools of seven teams, with a crossover game each week, always at 6:30, where one of the teams will play the corresponding team from the other pool.

In order to make seven teams, we’ll be bringing three teams down from last round’s 8 team A pool, and 2 teams up from last round’s 6 team B pool.

Here are the results from Round One.

The Bob MacWilliams, Paul Neima, and Paul Durant teams all had two losses, but MacWilliams beat both Neima and Durant in their round robin encounters, and finishes in first place. Ray Biagé and Mark MacDonald both had three losses, and will remain in the A pool. Three teams, skipped by David Younker, Gord Peters, and Rick Doiron, had more than three losses, and will  be dropping to B.

The Greg Groves rink had only one loss in the B pool and will be awarded first place, followed by Karen Currie, who had two losses, and Lew Black, who had two losses, one of which was a default. The Groves and Currie rinks will move up the ladder to the A pool for the next round.. The Kelly Watts rink had three losses, while the Leigh Farrar and Mathieu Boudreau rinks each managed to record a win in the round.

Here are the pools for round 2, which will run for seven weeks (you play all six teams in your pool plus one team from the other):

A Pool

A1-Bob MacWilliams
A2-Paul Neima
A3-Paul Durant
A4-Mark MacDonald
A5-Ray Biagé
A6-Greg Groves
A7-Karen Currie

B Pool

B1-Rick Doiron
B2-Gord Peters
B3-David Younker
B4-Lew Black
B5-Kelly Watts
B6-Leigh Farrar
B7-Mathieu Boudreau

Here is the round two schedule. Teams in the pool that is to play at 8:30 on a particular week  are urged to check the schedule, in case they are scheduled for the 6:30 Crossover game (marked below by XO)

Jan 9 Draw One

6:30 pm B Pool
Ice 1: B6-Leigh Farrar vs B3-David Younker
Ice 2: A1-Bob MacWilliams vs B1-Rick Doiron (XO)
Ice 3: B5-Kelly Watts vs B4-Lew Black
Ice 4: B7-Mathieu Boudreau vs B2-Gord Peters

8:30 pm A Pool
Ice 1: A6-Greg Groves vs A3-Paul Durant
Ice 3: A5-Ray Biagé vs A4-Mark MacDonald
Ice 4: A7-Karen Currie vs A2-Paul Neima

Jan 16 Draw Two
6:30 pm A Pool
Ice 1: A5-Ray Biagé vs B5-Kelly Watts (XO)
Ice 2: A3-Paul Durant vs A7-Karen Currie
Ice 3: A1-Bob MacWilliams vs A2-Paul Neima
Ice 4: A4-Mark MacDonald vs A6-Greg Groves

8:30 pm B pool
Ice 2: B3-David Younker vs B7-Mathieu Boudreau
Ice 3: B1-Rick Doiron vs B2-Gord Peters
Ice 4: B4-Lew Black vs B6-Leigh Farrar

Jan 23 Draw Three

6:30 pm B Pool
Ice 1: B7-Mathieu Boudreau vs B4-Lew Black
Ice 2: B2-Gord Peters vs A2-Paul Neima (XO)
Ice 3: B6-Leigh Farrar vs B5-Kelly Watts
Ice 4: B3-David Younker vs B1-Rick Doiron

8:30 pm A pool
Ice 1: A7-Karen Currie vs A4-Mark MacDonald
Ice 3: A6-Greg Groves vs A5-Ray Biagé
Ice 4: A3-Paul Durant vs A1-Bob MacWilliams

Jan 30 Draw Four

6:30 pm A Pool
Ice 1: A6-Greg Groves vs B6-Leigh Farrar (XO)
Ice 2: A1-Bob MacWilliams vs A4-Mark MacDonald
Ice 3: A2-Paul Neima vs A3-Paul Durant
Ice 4: A5-Ray Biagé vs A7-Karen Currie

8:30 pm B Pool
Ice 2: B1-Rick Doiron vs B4-Lew Black
Ice 3: B2-Gord Peters vs B3-David Younker
Ice 4: B5-Kelly Watts vs B7-Mathieu Boudreau

Feb 6 Draw Five

6:30 pm B Pool
Ice 1: B4-Lew Black vs B2-Gord Peters
Ice 2: B7-Mathieu Boudreau vs B6-Leigh Farrar
Ice 3: B5-Kelly Watts vs B1-Rick Doiron
Ice 4: B3-David Younker vs A3-Paul Durant (XO)

6:30 pm A Pool
Ice 1: A4-Mark MacDonald vs A2-Paul Neima
Ice 2: A7-Karen Currie vs A6-Greg Groves
Ice 3: A5-Ray Biagé vs A1-Bob MacWilliams

Feb 13 Draw 6
6:30 pm A pool
Ice 1: A1-Bob MacWilliams vs A6-Greg Groves
Ice 2: A3-Paul Durant vs A4-Mark MacDonald
Ice 3: A7-Karen Currie vs B7-Mathieu Boudreau (XO)
Ice 4: A2-Paul Neima vs A5-Ray Biagé

8:30 pm B pool
Ice 1: B1-Rick Doiron vs B6-Leigh Farrar
Ice 2: B3-David Younker vs B4-Lew Black
Ice 4: B2-Gord Peters vs B5-Kelly Watts

Feb 20 Draw 7
6:30 pm B pool
Ice 1: B5-Kelly Watts vs B3-David Younker
Ice 2: B7-Mathieu Boudreau vs B1-Rick Doiron
Ice 3: B6-Leigh Farrar vs B2-Gord Peters
Ice 4: B4-Lew Black vs A4-Mark MacDonald (XO)

8:30 pm A pool
Ice 1: A5-Ray Biagé vs A3-Paul Durant
Ice 2: A7-Karen Currie vs A1-Bob MacWilliams
Ice 3: A6-Greg Groves vs A2-Paul Neima

The Pepsi Juniors banquet was held this afternoon in the hall upstairs from the Cornwall Curling Club. Among those on hand to wish the curlers success at this and future events was Curl PEI President George Koke, Cornwall Curling Club event coordinator Karen Currie, Cornwall Curling Club Junior Representative Brenda MacMillan, Charlie Seaman, representing long-time sponsor PepsiCo, and Hon. Ron McKinley, local MLA and Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development. During the banquet, Charlie Seaman made the announcement of a five year sponsorship renewal by PepsiCo for the PEI Junior Curling Championship.

Photo: Guest speaker Katie Beck

Guest speaker was Katie Beck, a kinesiologist who spoke on the many support persons available to athletes on Prince Edward Island, including sport psychologists, physiotherapists, fitness trainers, and nutritionists.

Here is an album of photos from the banquet, along with team photos taken after:

[Show as slideshow]

Four teams remain undefeated after Thursday play at the Curl PEI/Pepsi Provincial Junior Curling Championships, which continue until Sunday evening here at the Cornwall Curling Club.

CornwallCurling.com photo: Amanda MacLean

Four teams remain undefeated after Thursday play at the Curl PEI/Pepsi Provincial Junior Curling Championships, which continue until Sunday evening at the Cornwall Curling Club.

The Christopher Gallant rink from Charlottetown, which includes three members of last -year’s Junior Men’s championship team, the Shawn Pitre team, also from Charlottetown, and the Kaleign MacKay foursome from the Crapaud and Silver Fox clubs are all 2-0, while the Amanda MacLean team from the host club, who were the 2011 Canada Games women’s team, sits at 1-0.

In junior women’s action today, MacKay got by Cornwall’s Rachel O’Connor team 8-7 in an extra end in the morning draw, and beat Emily Keen and her Charlottetown/Cornwall rink 9-5 in the afternoon. Amanda MacLean edged Cornwall’s Veronica Smith team 7-6 in her opening game. Smith and Keen are 1-1, while O’Connor is 0-3.

In junior men’s play, the Gallant team downed the Justin Campbell rink from the Silver Fox 11-3, and beat Cody Dixon and his Montague rink 9-6. Pitre beat Campbell 9-5, and Summerside’s Alex MacFadyen team 8-3. Two teams have one loss, with MacFadyen sitting at 2-1, and Matthew MacLean from the Maple Leaf club in O’Leary, and the host club’s Tyler Smith team 1-1. MacLean beat Smith 11-7 in their round robin encounter today, aided by a steal of four points in the sixth end. Campbell is 0-2, while Dixon is 0-3.

Friday draws are at 10 am, and 3:30 and 7:30 pm, with the final round robin draws on Saturday at 10 and 2:30.

The semi-finals, between the second and third place teams from the round robin go Sunday at 2:30 pm, with the winners taking on the first place teams in the 7 pm final.

There is no admission charge to watch the event. A 50×50 draw will take place.
End-by-end results are available at peicurling.com/juniors

Seven junior men’s teams, and five junior women’s rinks are taking part. The winning teams will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, February 2-10, in Fort McMurray Alberta.

Women’s

Kaleigh MacKay scored a single in an extra end Thursday afternoon to defeat Rachel O’Connor during draw two of the Pepsi Provincial Junior Curling Championship.

Men’s

Three teams got their first wins of the seven-team tournament.

Charlottetown’s Christopher Gallant defeated Summerside’s Justin Campbell 11-3 with triples in the seventh and ninth ends.

Charlottetown’s Shawn Pitre downed Summerside’s Alex MacFadyen 8-3 in eight ends while Cornwall’s Tyler Smith defeated Montague’s Cody Dixon 9-6.

For live scoring visit: http://peicurling.com/juniors/

Click for full story in The Guardian.

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.

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 lankshire.farms@pei.sympatico.ca, 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.

The first provincial curling championship of the season, the Curl PEI/Pepsi Provincial Junior Curling Championships, for curlers in the Under 21 age category, gets underway on Wednesday January 2nd, and concludes on Sunday the 6th at the Cornwall Curling Club. Seven junior men’s teams, and five junior women’s rinks have signed up.

Three-time defending women’s champion skip Sarah Fullerton is now out of the age group, so there will be a new junior women’s champ this year. Defending junior men’s champion skip Alex Matters is not back this year, but the other three members of last year’s championship  rink – Christopher Gallant, Kyle Holland, and Andrew Cameron, are entered, with Taylor McInnis joining the rink at second stone, and Gallant moving up to skip.

The junior men’s and junior women’s divisions will each play a round robin draw, with the winning team from the round robin and any required tirebreakers advancing directly to the championship final, and the second and third place teams facing off in a semi-final, with the winners advancing to their respective finals.

Round robin draw  times are 7 pm on Wednesday, 10 am, 2:30 pm and 7 pm on Thursday, 10 am, 3:30 and 7:30 pm on Friday, and 2:30 pm on Saturday. Opening ceremonies are Thursday at 6:15 pm.  Tiebreakers, if needed, go Saturday at 7 pm and/or Sunday at 10 am, with the semi-finals at 2:30 pm Sunday, and the finals following at 7 pm.

End-by-end results will be available throughout the event at peicurling.com/juniors

This event will use the new “Thinking Time” timing method, whereby the clock runs while teams are making decisions, not when the rocks are in motion. Games are 10 ends,  and allow 40 minutes of thinking time. There are 2 timeouts of 90 seconds each which includes coach travel time. An extra end is 5 minutes with 1 timeout of 90 seconds.

The winning teams will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, February 2-10, 2013, in Fort McMurray Alberta.
Here are the team rosters (skip to lead, alternate, coach-club):
Junior Men
Justin Campbell, Jordan MacLean, Ben Gardiner, Brett Murphy, Eldon Kilbride (Coach)-Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club (Summerside)
Cody Dixon, Brooks Roche, Dylan Lowery, Owen Newson, Tammy Dewar (coach)-Montague Curling Club
Christopher Gallant, Kyle Holland, Taylor McInnis, Andrew Cameron, Peter Gallant (coach-Charlottetown Curling Complex
Alex MacFadyen, James Dalton, Matthew MacDonald, Parker MacFadyen, David MacFadyen (coach)-Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club (Summerside)
Matthew MacLean, Jeff Taylor, Kevin Gallant, Alan MacLean, Glen MacLean (coach)-Maple Leaf Curling Club (O’Leary)/Cornwall Curling Club
Shawn Pitre, Tony Nabuurs ,Parker O’Connor, Noah O’Connor, Arnie Nabuurs  (coach)-Charlottetown Curling Complex
Tyler Smith, Alex Sutherland, Alex Jenkins, Jonathan Schut, Allan Campbell (coach), Kevin Smith (coach)-Cornwall Curling Club

Junior Women
Emily Keen, Jessica Watts, Kayla Schut, Jenny Mutch, Butch McGee (coach), David Ross (coach)-Charlottetown/Cornwall
Kaleigh MacKay, Kaleigh Peters, Madeline Arsenault, Alyssa Arsenault, Dario Zannier (coach)-Crapaud/Silver Fox
Amanda MacLean, Kassinda Bulger, Emily Gray, Aleya Quilty, Jane DiCarlo (alternate), Glen MacLean (coach), Shelley Gray (coach)-Cornwall Curling Club
Rachel O’Connor, Meghan Ching, Lauren Lenentine, Breanne Burgoyne, Pat Quilty (coach)-      Cornwall Curling Club
Veronica Smith, Katie Fullerton, Sabrina Smith, Chloe McCloskey, Bill Hope (coach), Paul  Smith (coach)-Cornwall Curling Club

Here is the draw::
Wednesday January 2, 2013
7 pm Veronica Smith vs Rachel O’Connor, Alex MacFadyen vs Cody Dixon

Thursday January 3, 2013
10 am Tyler Smith vs Cody Dixon, Alex MacFadyen vs Shawn Pitre, Kaleigh MacKay vs Rachel O’Connor, Christopher Gallant vs Justin Campbell
2:30 pm Emily Keen vs Kaleigh MacKay , Amanda MacLean vs Veronica Smith, Matthew MacLean vs Tyler Smith
7 pm Matthew MacLean vs Alex MacFadyen, Brett Gallant vs Cody Dixon, Justin Campbell vs Shawn Pitre, Emily Keen vs Rachel O’Connor

Friday, January 4, 2013
10 am     Amanda MacLean vs Rachel O’Connor, Tyler Smith vs Shawn Pitre , Matthew MacLean vs Christopher Gallant,  Justin Campbell vs Cody Dixon
3:30 pm Veronica Smith vs Emily Keen, Amanda MacLean vs Kaleigh MacKay, Tyler Smith vs Alex MacFadyen
7:30 pm Christopher Gallant vs Shawn Pitre, Matthew MacLean vs Cody Dixon, Alex MacFadyen vs  Justin Campbell

Saturday, January 5, 2013
10 am  Matthew MacLean vs Justin Campbell, Amanda MacLean vs Emiily Keen,  Tyler Smith vs
Christopher Gallant, Shawn Pitre vs Cody Dixon
2:30 pm Veronica Smith vs Kaleigh MacKay, Tyler Smith vs Justin Campbell, Matthew MacLean vs Shawn Pitre, Alex MacFadyen vs Christopher Gallant
7 pm Tiebreakers (if needed)

Sunday, January 6, 2013
10 am Tiebreakers (if needed)
2:30 pm Semi-Finals (2nd vs 3rd place)
7 pm Finals (1st place teams vs semi-final winners)

The sign up sheet for our Club’s playdowns for the provincial The Dominion Curling Club Championship has been posted on the bulletin board by the bar. Sign up before Jan. 18th!

The Club  playdowns will be held the weekend of Jan. 25-27. The men’s and women’s winners will advance to the provincial The Dominion championship, March 6-10 at the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton. The national event will take place Nov. 26-30 2013 at the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay Ont.

Click for eligibility requirements for the national event.

The signup sheet is now up at the Club for the inaugural PEI Brewing Company Funspiel, which kicks off on Friday January 11, and wraps up on Saturday the 12th. This is a single entry event, open to club members, but members are permitted to take along one non-member to be on the team. Entry fee is $25 per player.

Each team will play three six-end games, with draws Friday evening at 6:30 and 8:30, and Saturday at 10 am, 12 noon, and 2 and 4 pm. Winners will be decided by a points system. Curlers are also invited to come dressed in beach attire, with best costume judging on Saturday afternoon.

Snacks and a beverage from PEI brewery will be provided on Friday night, along with prize presentations and a dinner of lasagna and caesar salad on Saturday following the final draw.

The Board of Directors is looking for volunteers to help coordinate a drive for new handles for our curling rocks. It has been some time since they have been replaced and we are looking for sponsors to help cover the costs. Sponsors could be companies or individuals and will have their names engraved on the rocks. We are seeking volunteers to help coordinate this effort.  If we can get a lot of volunteers for this it will make the job much easier. If you are interested, please contact Bev or let one of the Board Members know. We’ll announce more details about this in the new year.

Today’s draws don’t seem to be in the Guardian. Here they are:

Cornwall Curling Club draw for Wed. Dec. 12.

“The Iceman” Daytime Competitive league

10 am

Ice 1: Ray Biagé vs Barry Craswell

1 pm

Ice 1: Gloria Clarke vs Vern Chowan
Ice 2: Carol Sweetapple vs John DeLuca
Ice 3: Paul Durant vs Lester Callbeck
Ice 4: Paul Arsenault vs Bob Fowler
Bye: Diane MacKay

Ladder League

6:30 pm Griffin’s Service Centre B Pool
Ice 1:  Lew Black vs Mathieu Boudreau
Ice 2:  Leigh Farrar vs -Kelly Watts
Ice 4:  Greg Groves vs Karen Currie

8:30 pm Howard Johnson Dutch Inn A Pool
Ice 1:  Bob MacWilliams vs Paul Durant
Ice 2:  Gord Peters vs Rick Doiron
Ice 3:  Mark MacDonald vs Paul Neima
Ice 4:  David Younker vs Ray Biagé

While the Scots will be returning to our Club in January to once again compete in the Strathcona Cup, they were also here a decade ago, back in January 2003. I dusted off the old digital photo album, going back to the original files to enlarge the pictures so they conform to today’s screen sizes. Here is the album (click to view):

The Cornwall Curling Club is this year’s host club for the 2013 Pepsi Provincial Juniors Curling Championship, open to junior men’s and women’s curlers age 20 and under. Three-time defending women’s champion skip Sarah Fullerton is now out of the age group, so there will be a new junior  women’s champ this year, chosen from five entries. Defending junior men’s champion skip Alex Matters is not back this year, but three members of his rink – Christopher Gallant, Kyle Holland, and Andrew Cameron, along with Taylor McInnis, are entered, along with six other rinks.

There is one junior men’s team entered from the host club, skipped by Tyler Smith. Christopher Gallant and Shawn Pitre are entered from Charlottetown, while Justin  Campbell and Alex MacFadyen are skipping rinks from the Silver Fox. Cody Dixon from Montague, and Matthew MacLean from O’Leary’s Maple Leaf Curling Club round out the men’s entries.

Three junior women’s teams, skipped by Amanda MacLean, Rachel O’Connor, and Veronica Smith are from the Cornwall Curling Club, while the Emily Keen team is from Charlottetown and Cornwall, and the Kaleigh MacKay foursome are from Crapaud and the Silver Fox.

The winning teams will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, February 2-10, 2013, in Fort McMurray Alberta.

Here is the draw for the Jackson Triggs Ladies Funspiel Friday, November 30 and Saturday, December 1 at the Cornwall Curling Club:

Friday 6:30 pm: Ice 1 – Sweetapple vs. Pippy, Ice 2 – Sanderson vs. McInnis, Ice 3 – Currie vs. Lank

Friday 8:00 pm: Ice 2 – Clarke vs. Stavert, Ice 3 – MacKay vs. Arsenault

Saturday 9:30 am:  Ice 1 – Sanderson vs. Arsenault, Ice 3 – Sweetapple vs. Lank, Ice 4 – Pippy vs. Currie

Saturday 11:00 am: Ice 3 – McInnis vs. Stavert, Ice 4 – MacKay vs. Clarke

Saturday 12:30 – 1:30 pm: Lunch

Saturday 1:30 pm: Ice 2 – Sweetapple vs. Currie, Ice 3: Pippy vs. Arsenault, Ice 4 – Sanderson vs. Lank

Saturday 3:00 pm: Ice 1- MacKay vs. Stavert, Ice 2 – McInnis vs. Clarke

Saturday 5:00 pm: Banquet and Prizes

(by Jean Mills, for the Canadian Curling Association)

In February they were gold medalists at the 2012 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games. In May they were named PEI Curling’s Team of the Year. Now there’s one more honour ahead for PEI’s Special Olympics curling team. On Thursday, November 29 in Toronto, these curlers and their coaches will take the stage to receive their award as 2012 Special Olympics Canada’s Team of the Year.

Now in its 24th year, the Special Olympics Canada Awards are decided through a detailed selection process. Nominations from each province and territory are sent to a committee from the National Board of Directors who narrow the field and return the shortlist to provincial and territorial chapters for final selection.

Writes coach Dick St. John: “This is the official picture taken by/for SOPEI just days before we left for St. Albert and the National Winter Games in February 2012. Good Looking Crew! We decided we were going for Gold but if we didn’t get Gold we’d look good in the attempt.” Standing is Dick St. John (Coach), Monique Gauthier(Lead), Ann Doucette(Assistant Coach), Phillip Chugg(Mate); Sitting is Greg St. John(Skip), John Anthony Laybolt(5th Player/Lead), Chris MacPherson(Second)” (Photo courtesy Special Olympics PEI)

For skip Greg St. John, third Phillip Chugg, second Chris MacPherson, and leads Monique Gauthier and John Anthony Laybolt (who also serves as fifth player), along with their head coach Dick St. John and assistant coach Ann Doucette, this well-deserved honour comes after years of hard work.

“In less than 10 short years, these gold medal-winning PEI athletes grew from a handful of individuals whose main concern was about not slipping and falling on the ice, to a team which despite the undersized pool of curlers in our small province, developed personal, technical and team building skills and went on to demonstrate, on the Canadian stage, just how this major feat could be accomplished,” wrote parent and team manager Paula Gauthier in a letter to the nominating committee for the Special Olympics Canada Team of the Year Award.

According to coach Dick St. John, the successes enjoyed by the team are the result of dedicated preparation – conditioning, on-and-off-ice training, team building activities, not to mention weekly practices at the Charlottetown Curling Club, league play at the Cornwall Curling Club, and participation in local bonspiels.

The team also benefited from the support of its provincial organization, Special Olympics PEI, who helped finance training for the coaches as well as providing opportunities for competition within the Maritimes.

Winning the gold medal at the national Special Olympics championship was a tremendous success, says St. John, but there was more to that victory than a medal: “The players grew as individuals and as a team through the experience.”

And none of it could have happened, says assistant coach Ann Doucette, “without the support of Special Olympics PEI, parents and guardians, volunteers, curling clubs and organizations, sport professionals, and last but not least the coaches who were with them every step of the way.”

“It is such a privilege to work with Special Olympics athletes,” says St. John. “While I can provide them with guidance, opportunities and encouragement, I often think that I am the net beneficiary from their commitment, enthusiasm and friendship.”

The 24th Annual Special Olympics Canada Awards take place Thursday, November 29 in Toronto to recognize and celebrate “outstanding performances and contributions of Special Olympics athletes, coaches and volunteers” to the Special Olympics movement.

Read more about the team’s victories at the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games and their selection as PEI Curling’s Team of the Year.

Click to read this story at the CCA website.

Another in a long series of successful Opening Bonspiels sponsored by Kenmac Energy was held last weekend, with the rink skipped by Jamie Ballem, with his sister Myrna Sanderson, along with Myrna’s daughter Angela Sanderson and Angela’s partner Brent Irving emerging as the “A” division winners. The same team, but with Angus Kennedy as skip instead of Jamie, also won in 2010.

Left to right: Sponsor Gordon Matthews, Angela Sanderson, Brent Irving, Myrna Sanderson, Jamie Ballem

Here are the “A” division runners-up –

Left to right: Sponsor Gordon Matthews, Krista Affleck, Ankur Deshpande, Kim Nicholson, Bob Fowler

The B division was won by the team of Mark MacDonald, Cathy Handren, and Marjorie Matthews

Left to right: Cathy Handren, sponsor Gordon Matthews, Marjorie Matthews. Missing: Mark MacDonald

B Division runners-up:

Left to right: sponsor Gordon Matthews, Mark Sommers, Shirley Berry, Linda Fairhurst, Evelyn Rogerson

The C divison was won by a couple of couples – Angus and Lorianne Davies, and Steve and Karen Montgomery

Left to right: sponsor Gordon Matthews, Angus and Lorianne, Karen and Steve

C division runners-up:

C Runner-up: (L-R): Sponsor Gordon Matthews,  Frank Legault,  Paul Neima, Hélène LaPalme, Joe Callaghan

The D division was won by the rink of Jeff Taylor, Rebecca Rolfe, Hank Kamphuis, and Bernie Dykerman

Photo (L-R): Sponsor Gordon Matthews, Jeff Taylor, Bernie Dykerman, Rebecca Rolfe, Hank Kamphuis

We’ll have a report in a little while, but, in the meantime, check out the great photos from last weekend’s Kenmac Energy Opening Bonspiel!
Love the new trophies!

Click to view the album

Slideshow:

The Jackson-Triggs Ladies Funspiel will be held at the Cornwall Curling Club on Friday, November 30 and Saturday, December 1. The spiel is open to female curlers from across the Island. The cost is $120 per team with a limit of 16 teams. Register at the club or by phoning 566-4427 or emailing manager@cornwallcurling.com. Come out and join us for a weekend of food, fun, great curling and prizes.

Here are the REVISED opening draws for the Cornwall Curling Club’s Kenmac Energy Opening Spiel

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LATE DRAW START TIME HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 8 PM

Friday, November 16^th

6:30PM

Ice 1: J. MacKinnon, D. Sigsworth, P. Ling, D. MacKinnon vs Kenmac Team

Ice 2: L. Davies, A. Davies, K. Montgomery, S. Montgomery vs M. Somers, S. Berry, L. Fairhurst, E. Rogerson

Ice 3: B. Fowler, K. Nicholson, K. Affleck, TBA vs J. MacMillan, B. MacMillan, P. Fields, B. Fields

8:00 PM NOTE CHANGE OF TIME!

Ice 1: C. MacPhee, TBA, M. MacPhee, K. MacPhee vs J. Taylor, R. Rolfe, H. Kamphuis, B. Dykerman

Ice 2: J. Ballem, M. Sanderson, B. Irving, A. Sanderson vs M. Praught, L. Matthews, L. Robertson, J. Dykerman

Ice 3: P. Neima, H. LaPalme, J. Callaghan, C. Peters vs V. Chowan, G. Clarke, A. Clarke, A. Deshpande

Ice 4: K. Casey, B. MacWilliams, M. England, TBA vs M. MacDonald, C, Handren, M. Matthews, TBA

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Jack Ferguson team will not be joining us this season. To accommodate this without having to redo everything, I have changed the B pool schedule by moving the bye teams into the Ferguson rink’s slot each week. This will mean that teams will play more than a full round robin – playing a team or two twice. We also had a bye the first week. Consequently, we will have to factor in the games played, when figuring out the standings at the end of the round. Here is the revised Round One draw (no changes have been made to the A pool):

8:30 pm Griffin’s Service Centre B Pool
Ice 1: B6-Mathieu Boudreau vs B3-Leigh Farrar
Ice 3: B5-Karen Currie vs B4-Kelly Watts
Ice 4: B7-Jack Ferguson vs B2-Greg Groves (Groves won by default)
Bye: B1-Lew Black

Week 3:  Nov 21
6:30 pm Howard Johnson Dutch Inn A Pool
Ice 1:  A7-Mark MacDonald vs A4-Rick Doiron
Ice 2:  A8-Paul Neima vs A2-David Younker
Ice 3:  A6-Paul Durant vs A5-Ray Biagé
Ice 4:  A3-Gord Peters vs A1-Bob MacWilliams

8:30 pm Griffin’s Service Centre B Pool
Ice 1:  B2-Greg Groves vs B4-Kelly Watts
Ice 3:  B6-Mathieu Boudreau vs B5-Karen Currie
Ice 4:  B3-Leigh Farrar vs B1-Lew Black

Week 4:  Nov. 28
6:30 pm Griffin’s Service Centre B Pool
Ice 2:  B1-Lew Black vs B4-Kelly Watts
Ice 3:  B2-Greg Groves vs B3-Leigh Farrar
Ice 4:  B5-Karen Currie vs B6-Mathieu Boudreau

8:30 pm Howard Johnson Dutch Inn A Pool
Ice 1:  A6-Paul Durant vs A8-Paul Neima
Ice 2:  A1-Bob MacWilliams vs A4-Rick Doiron
Ice 3:  A2-David Younker vs A3-Gord Peters
Ice 4:  A5-Ray Biagé vs A7-Mark MacDonald

Week 5:  Dec. 5
6:30 pm Howard Johnson Dutch Inn A Pool
Ice 1:  A4-Rick Doiron vs A2-David Younker
Ice 2:  A7-Mark MacDonald vs A6-Paul Durant
Ice 3:  A5-Ray Biagé vs A1-Bob MacWilliams
Ice 4: A8-Paul Neima vs A3-Gord Peters

8:30 pm Griffin’s Service Centre B Pool
Ice 1:  B4-Kelly Watts vs B2-Greg Groves
Ice 2:  B3-Leigh Farrar vs B6-Mathieu Boudreau
Ice 3:  B5-Karen Currie vs B1-Lew Black

Week 6:  Dec. 12
6:30 pm Griffin’s Service Centre B Pool
Ice 1:  B1-Lew Black vs B6-Mathieu Boudreau
Ice 2:  B3-Leigh Farrar vs B4-Kelly Watts
Ice 4:  B2-Greg Groves vs B5-Karen Currie

8:30 pm Howard Johnson Dutch Inn A Pool
Ice 1:  A1-Bob MacWilliams vs A6-Paul Durant
Ice 2:  A3-Gord Peters vs A4-Rick Doiron
Ice 3:  A7-Mark MacDonald vs A8-Paul Neima
Ice 4:  A2-David Younker vs A5-Ray Biagé

Week 7:  Dec. 19
6:30 pm Howard Johnson Dutch Inn A Pool
Ice 1:  A5-Ray Biagé vs A3-Gord Peters
Ice 2:  A7-Mark MacDonald vs A1-Bob MacWilliams
Ice 3:  A6-Paul Durant vs A2-David Younker
Ice 4:  A8-Paul Neima vs A4-Rick Doiron

8:30 pm Griffin’s Service Centre B Pool
Ice 1:  B5-Karen Currie vs B3-Leigh Farrar
Ice 2:  B4-Kelly Watts vs B1-Lew Black
Ice 3:  B6-Mathieu Boudreau vs B2-Greg Groves

(by Eric McCarthy)

WEST DEVON – The MacLean siblings fell just two games short of facing each other in the consolation final of the OVCA Junior Superspiel in Ottawa-area curling rinks last weekend.

Both the Matthew MacLean rink from Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary and the Amanda MacLean team from the Cornwall Curling Club finished pool play with 1-3 (won-lost) records. Both teams bowed out after their first consolation-round games, dashing their hopes of playing each other in the nation’s capital.

“It was a great experience, just the high competition level and the chance to be in such a big tournament with teams from across Canada and some from around the world,” Matthew commented. “We did play pretty good, but not that lucky, I guess.”

A highlight for the Amanda MacLean rink, the 2011 Prince Edward Island Canada Games team, was beating the Ontario Canada Games team of Lauren Horton in their first game of the superspiel. Team Horton won the bronze medals at the Canada Games.

Alan MacLean – Lead, Kevin Gallant – Second, Marshall Smallman – Third, Matthew MacLean – Skip, Glen MacLean – Coach

Click for full story in the Journal-Pioneer