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| SPORTS - March 9, 2010 |
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Ian Kucerak photo
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| Jeff Gonnet and Brian Truckey sweep their rock during the finals against skip John Strand’s rink on Sunday. Peter Lee’s rink won the A Final 7-4. |
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| Good competition featured at men’s bonspiel |
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Ian Kucerak
Leader Staff
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The bonspiel held at Barrhead Curling Club this weekend may have been a bit smaller this year, but the level of competition was still very good.
Seventeen rinks played 8 ends each in the tournament, winning prizes and enjoying one of western Canada’s favourite winter sports.
Randy Rudd, the organizer of the three-day event, said he couldn’t remember how many rinks took to the ice at the club for last year’s men’s bonspiel, but numbers were down.
"We’re not getting enough young people," he said, speaking about the competitive events, which tend to draw curlers in the over-40 category.
They have been seeing growth in recreational curling as they’ve grown from six to 14 rinks in just one year of the recreational league, which runs on Fridays during the season. In constrast to the women’s, men’s and stick curling leagues, recreational curling boasts a complement of rinks filled with younger curlers, he said.
For next year, they’ll look to encourage as many people to join the club as possible and they’ll continue to offer a low per-rink rate of $100 for recreational curlers. Rudd said they’re hoping that more under-40 people discover a sport that is popular from the prairies to the East Coast.
"We’re hoping by sponsoring those kinds of things, we’ll grow some more rinks," Rudd said of the recreational league.
Sponsors of the men’s bonspiel included Bielert Accounting, the Backdoor Liquor Store and Golonowski Distributors. Two teams, which contested for the C Final, came from Legal, Alta., while the remaining out-of-town teams came from Spruce Grove, Onoway, Drayton Valley, Morinville and Athabasca.
Skip John Strand played a close game against skip Peter Lee’s team of Jeff Gonnet as third, Kevin Brandt as second and Brian Truckey as lead, but it was to no avail as Lee’s rink took the A Final 7-4.
Coming in first for the B Final were Trevor Martin’s rink ahead of Ray Bandola’s team, 7-4. In the C Final, the Allen Perrault team won a close draw, 6-5 against Terry Fenton’s rink, both from Legal.
Lee said the game was exciting as they curled against a long-time opponent in John Strand.
"We’re had battles here many a time, so we knew it was going to be a tough game," Lee said. "We had to bring our A game to play him."
He’s taken to the ice in three cash bonspiels in the past month and is three for three so far. For Lee the highlight of the bonspiel was seeing both his team and that of his opponents make some key shots.
"We just had to match them," he said, speaking to the skill on display on the Barrhead Club’s sheets over the weekend. "You’ve (also) got to have a little bit of luck along the way."
The curling club is hosting a mixed bonspiel March 26-27. It is also planning a Prize Presentation and Year-end Wind-up at the Barrhead Inn, 7 p.m. on March 27. |
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