Western Blind Curling Championship a resounding success!
The annual Western Blind Curling Championship was held in Edmonton at the Granite Curling club from March 20th to 23rd.
This year the event marked it’s 50th Anniversary and included a couple of unique variances to mark the occasion. Firstly two rinks from Saskatoon made there debut. After a bit of a struggle air travel wise getting to Edmonton due to weather, both teams did well and they vow to be back next year.
Secondly, thanks to the support of CCB National, the top two rinks from the Ontario Blind Curling Association were invited to participate. The Ontario curlers, one rink from Toronto and the other from London, were welcomed with open arms and shown what true western hospitality is all about.
The event opened on the Wednesday evening with an opening ceremony where participants were paraded onto the ice and welcomed by various dignitaries. Roger Morin, who to the best of everyone’s calculations has attended most of the previous fifty events, threw out the ceremonial first stone. After that, it was game on and each rink had 4 qualifying games to determine the finalists. From there Two Simi-final games were held Saturday morning with the winners moving on the the event final.
After the four days of competition the two rinks from British Columbia competed in the event final in front of a packed house at the Granite. Our congratulations goes out the Eric Rosen Rink form Prince George who defeated the rink from Vancouver skipped by Fraser Hiltz.
Third place honours went to the Natalie Morin rink form the home club in Edmonton.
The final game was featured as a live broadcast on AMI audio and the blind curlers thank them for there continued support.
Following the competition a windup banquet was held at the Sandman South Edmonton hotel where the curlers stayed during the event. A wonderful evening a celebration, networking and fellowship was enjoyed by all.
Congratulation go out to Western Blind Curling Association President Lori Hysert and her team for pulling the event together. The CCB was proud and honoured to be the lead sponsor at the event and we look forward to hosting a National Curling event again next year. Our ongoing commitment to the sport of Blind Curling.
