The 59th Annual 100 Mile House Mens Bonspiel had the largest turnout in the past four years, with roughly 70 people coming out to watch the finals and six out of town teams coming out to compete, the furthest being from Terrace.
“The number of teams was really great, we had 16,” said organizer Maria Hamilton, who’s been doing it for the past four years. “In addition to the out of town teams, a lot of fans came out which doesn’t always happen. There was a lot of people watching all of the games.”
She also estimated more people were in attendance during Jan. 20’s games than the final because of the dinner they had put on that night.
Hamilton is not sure why the fan numbers bumped up but chalked it up to either marketing the bonspiel or the out of towners bringing their families with them, which is unusual apparently. The club is also growing faster compared to other small town clubs, according to Hamilton.
The other five out of town teams came from Chilliwack, Mission, Williams Lake, Quesnel and Clinton.
A lot of family teams, including the ‘C’ winning Doddridge team, made up of fathers and sons competed.
“It seemed a little more family-oriented than it’s been in the past. Guys were bringing in their sons from other towns, it was interesting,” said Hamilton.
She said the family teams brought a lot of emotion to the stands, with fans being more animated in their support.
Team Ed Ney, with Pat Hamilton and brothers Ethan and Logan Sikiric, beat Team Smith for the “A” final. Ney is one of the junior coaches for the 100 Mile House junior program, which the two brothers are part of.
Scott Saito, Duane Ney, Dennis Gosselin and Steve Cole of Saito beat Team Massie in the “B” title. The “C” was won by team Doddridge, featuring brothers Shane and Keven and Phil, their father. The fourth member was John Dryden.
More than $2,500 was given out to the winners of the pay-to-play tournament.