The following are upcoming PEI curling championship events and entry deadlines:
Juniors
The Pepsi Juniors, for curlers age 20 and Under, take place January 2-5 at the Montague Curling Club. Eight junior men’s and five junior women’s teams are entered. This year’s champions will advance to the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, January 29-February 5, 2011, in Calgary Alberta. The defending PEI junior women’s team, skipped by Sarah Fullerton of Cornwall, is back this year, but there will be a new junior men’s winner, as five-time provincial and 2009 Canadian champ Brett Gallant has elected to move up to the Labatt Tankard Men’s competition.
The triple knockout draw, schedule and team rosters are now available at peicurling.com/juniors. End-by-end results will be available at the same site.
Masters
The deadline for the Marco Polo Land Masters, for curlers age 60 and over, is Dec. 27. The championship, with men’s and women’s divisions, will take place Jan. 24-27 at the Charlottetown Curling Club. Entry fee is $40 a player. Winning teams can advance to the Maritime Masters, Feb. 14-19, also in Charlottetown, and/or the Canadian Masters, March 30 to April 5 in Assiniboine MB. Defending PEI champions are the Clair Sweet rink from the Maple Leaf Curling Club, and the Carol Sweetapple team from Cornwall.
Scotties
Thursday December 30 is the entry deadline for the 2011 PEI Scotties Tournament of Hearts Provincial Women’s Curling Championships, January 27-31 at the Cornwall Curling Club. The winning team will advance to the national 2011 Scotties, February 19-27, at the Charlottetown Civic Centre. Six entries have been received so far, including the defending champion and Canadian silver medallist team skipped by Kathy O’Rourke, along with entries skipped by Shirley Berry, Suzanne Birt, Donna Butler, Tammy Dewar, and Kim Dolan. Entry fee is $50 per player, plus a $35 per player per season CCA Competitor Card fee.
Future Scotties
The PEI Curling Association, along with Kruger Products, sponsors of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, are pleased to announce the “Future Scotties”, a new developmental event for female curlers who may one day compete in the Scotties. The Future Scotties will take place at the same time and place as the provincial Scotties (January 27-31 2011 at the Cornwall Curling Club), and is open to PEI female curlers age 19 and over who have not competed in a Scotties provincial playdown in the last three years. Entry fee is $25 per player, and entry deadline is January 6, 2011. Entry is limited to the first eight teams that apply. Entries must be made online at PEICurling.com. Prizes will include tickets to this year’s national Scotties at the Charlottetown Civic Centre, along with Scotties products, and all Future Scotties participants will be invited to the provincial Scotties banquet.
Stick
The 2011 Ferguson Funeral Homes Provincial Stick Curling Championships will be held at the Montague Curling Club from Feb. 1-3, 2011. Last year in Crapaud, the duo of Walter Callaghan and John Vincent from the Western Community Curling Club in Alberton edged the Gordie MacDonald/Floyd Stewart twosome from Montague by a 5-4 score to repeat as winners of the the men’s and mixed section, while Ruth Stavert and Gloria Clarke from Cornwall got by the Shirley Lank/Ruth Walsh pair from Cornwall and Crapaud by a 7-5 score to win the inaugural women’s stick championship.
The winners and runners-up earn the right to compete in the 2011 Canadian Open Stick Curling Championship, March 23-25, 2011 at the Golden Ears Winter Club in Maple Ridge BC.
Entry deadline is January 4th. Entry fee is $40 per player.
Labatt Tankard
The Labatt Tankard Provincial Men’s curling Championships will take place February 3-7 at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside, with the winning team advancing to the Tim Hortons Brier, March 5-13 in London Ontario. If necessary, a preliminary event will be held at the Maple Leaf Curling Club. January 20-23.
In last year’s PEI final, the Rod MacDonald rink edged out the Robert Campbell foursome by a 5-4 score to repeat as the Labatt Tankard Provincial Men’s Curling champions. MacDonald, with third Kevin Champion, second Andrew Robinson, and lead Mark O’Rourke, went 5-0 in the round robin to advance directly to the final. MacDonald and Champion, both have teams entered this year, along with nine other teams to-date.
Entry deadline is January 5. Entry fee is $50 per player, plus a $35 per player per season fee for CCA Competitors Card, payable with the first event of the season.
17 and Under
The Maple Leaf Curling Club in O’Leary is the location for the 2011 Sylvan Learning Provincial 17 and Under Curling Championship. Entry deadline is January 6. Entry fee is $35/player.
Last year’s champions, the Tiffany Sweet and Matthew MacLean rinks, are both from this year’s host club.
The 2011 winning rinks will advance to the Atlantic 17 and Under Championships, also sponsored by Sylvan Learning, April 15-17 at the Charlottetown Curling Club.
Seniors
The Credit Unions of PEI Seniors will be held at two venues this year, with the men’s at the Maple Leaf, and the women’s at the Crapaud Community Curling Club, both from Feb. 10-13. Entry deadline is Jan. 13. Defending champs are Peter MacDonald and Shirley Berry.
Entries for these events must be made online at PEICurling.com. Payment may be made online via credit card or PayPal, or by mailing a cheque to the PEICA.
