Looking back at the 2018/19 curling season, the 100 Mile Curling Club can’t help but smile. It has been a very successful year.
The Mixed League was held on Tuesday nights and there were 12 teams this year (up four teams from last year), which was quite a shock at registration. The league played at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m, filling all sheets, and there were many new faces. One of the teams was filled with brand new curlers who YouTubed how to curl before going on the ice for the first time. The winner of the Mixed League was Team Menzer, with 33 points. This win is their second year in a row. The team consisted of skip Dianne Menzer, third Terry Bell, second Tanya Hammerstron and lead Dan Rimell. This is only Rimell’s second year playing and it will be his second Mixed League jacket.
The Men’s League was held on Wednesday nights and there were eight teams. This league was an extremely close race with Teams Ney and Mitchell tying with 32 points for the regular season, but Mitchell came out ahead due to win/loss records against each other. The men have a playoff system where Ney edged out the third place Dall team (23 points) in a semi-final game, resulting in a Ney/Mitchell final. The final game was extremely close, going into an extra end and Ney coming out the victor on the last stone. It was very entertaining for the fans. The Ney team consisted of skip Ed Ney (lead stones), fourth stones Duane Ney, third Dennis Gosselin and second Steve Cole.
The Ladies’ League is always a close race and this year was no exception. Team Doddridge took the top spot with 29 points consisting of skip Joanne Doddridge, third Tanya Hammerstron, second Brenda Bourassa and lead Pat Witty. Tanya won two league jackets this year for Mixed and Ladies.’ Second place went to Team Menzer with 27 points, third place was Team Hamilton with 26 points and fourth place was Team Grenzer with 24 points.
This year was the first time the Curling Club had a Doubles League. This eight-team league curled twice a month on Friday nights for a total of 10 games. For the size of 100 Mile House, our first Doubles League had an amazing turn-out. Team Dall won the league jackets with 16 points, followed by Team Folk who took second with 15 points.
In March the league had a wind-up where everyone brought appetizers and stayed for a social event with discussions of next year buzzing.
The Club also had 20 junior curlers throughout the year and many of these juniors participated in the adult leagues and bonspiels.
The 100 Mile Curling Club is very lucky to have great volunteer coaches to help with the junior curlers and they are doing a wonderful job. These same coaches taught curling to 246 students from different schools in the area throughout the year. Curling is an inexpensive winter sport for kids, that can set them up to curl their whole life.
The Lac la Hache Funspiel, which is the last event of the season for the 100 Mile Curling Club, was held on March 23. The event had 14 teams and there was a very young vibe to it. The age range of this event was from 10 to 92. The club was filled with children playing and watching with their parents. Team Al Faulkner took home the top prize, with Team Menzer coming in second and Team Mitchel third.
The Lac la Hache group cooked dinner for everyone and the lounge was packed. This event showed how curling can be played at any age and throughout one’s life and how much of a social game it really is.
The Annual General Meeting will be held on April 12. The social will start at 6 p.m. and the AGM at 7. Awards will be handed out after the meeting.
The 2018/19 season was a very successful one. The Club has been able to attract a younger group of curlers and hopes to continue with that trend. We hope everyone has a wonderful summer and look forward to the 2019/20 season.
newsroom@100milefreepress.net
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