It’s a busy weekend for the Dawson Creek Curling Club (DCCC) and regional curlers, as well as for some of the club’s young stars that honed their skills at the rink and are now testing their talents at their own competitive levels.
The Club hosts one of its oldest, and largest bonspiels of the year, with the local sheets set to heat up for the Farmers/Open Mixed Spiel. Meanwhile, junior curlers, such as Jordan Steinke, Jason Ginter, Travis Jones and Sanjay Bowry, who have spent many hours targeting shot rocks and drawing to the button at the DCCC, will be vying for ‘spiel wins at tournaments elsewhere.
Every curling season, the Farmers’ bonspiel attracts anywhere between 20 to 30 rinks and carries on a tradition that began over 50 years ago with local cowhands and cultivators curling it up for some friendly competition.
The event always offers a competitive, but fun atmosphere, with room for curlers of all expertise – even first-timers.
The first draws begin this evening.
As for Dawson Creek’s young guns, Jones, Ginter and Steinke curl this weekend at the Winter Regional; the second leg of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference curling tour held in Edmonton, Alta. While Bowry and his B.C. rink prepare to take on the rest of Canada’s best at the national championships in Fort McMurray, Alta.
Jones, who originates from Pouce Coupe, plays lead for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ooks men’s team, while Ginter (third) and Steinke (skip) lead the Grant MacEwan University Griffins.
Jones has the upper hand so far in tour play over his Dawson Creek counterparts. His Ooks curled to a 5-1 record at the tour’s first tournament stop in Grande Prairie at the start of December, to top the rest of the field; and against Steinke and Ginter’s Griffins, the Ooks walked away with a 7-4 win.
Steinke finished the tournament at 3-3, tying him for third with two other teams.
The Winter Regional, hosted by Concordia University College of Alberta, begins on Friday with play ending on Sunday.
For Bowry, a former teammate of Steinke and Ginter’s, who now attends classes at the University of Victoria, he and his lower-mainland rink will represent B.C. at the 2013 M&M Meat Shops Junior Curling Championships in Fort McMurray, Feb. 2-10.
Bowry curls second on the squad that clinched the B.C. title with a perfect 7-0 record at the junior men’s provincials in Coquitlam earlier this month.
The eight-day, 12-team, tournament begins Saturday with round-robin play kicking off at 1:00 p.m. Bowry and Team B.C. get the ball rolling with a matchup versus Nunavut.
