CANORA - The final curling event of the season, the Canora Mixed Windup Bonspiel, was held at the Sylvia Fedoruk Centre on March 23 – 25.
With a total of 11 teams competing, each foursome played three games under the Brandon Draw format. Ten points were awarded for each win, five for a tie, and two points for scoring in an end. Zero points were earned for blank ends.
When all was said and done, the Robert Waselenko and Ron Hoehn teams ended up tied for first place with 56 points.
With Waselenko and Hoehn having already completed their schedule earlier in the day on Saturday, the Linda Dietrich team of Calder and the rink skipped by Peter Wiwchar of Canora each had the opportunity to overtake the leaders and earn first place by winning their last games and scoring in enough ends.
As luck would have it, Dietrich and Wiwchar faced each other in the final draw. The Wiwchar foursome roared out to a 6-2 lead after five ends, and appeared to be well on their way to wrapping up the bonspiel championship. But Dietrich and her teammates kept coming, scoring one in the sixth, and stealing three more in the final two ends to earn the tie.
As a result, Dietrich ended the bonspiel with 53 points, and Wiwchar’s team had 51.
In addition to the top four teams, other rinks entered in the bonspiel were local foursomes: Bob Kolodziejski, Lenny Bazarski, Darcy Zielinski, Karen Wilgosh, Sheldon Derkatch and Clayton Malanowich, as well as Ashley Brocker of Swan River, Man.
With the bonspiel season at an end, Canora Curling Club President Terry Wilson said, “We have had an excellent year at the curling rink this year. We have a tremendous facility that provides a friendly atmosphere to enjoy this great sport. We have something for people of all ages and all skill levels.”
Wilson said the weekly recreational curling league “has been a huge success this season. We have a full draw of 16 teams each week with people of all ages and all skill levels taking part. It is encouraging to hear newcomers comment on how much fun it is once they give it a try. Our afternoon curlers had a great year and continue to be a staple of the club.”
Wilson said the bonspiels had more of an up-and-down season.
“That is something the executive is looking to improve on. We are always asking for suggestions from our curlers on what they would like to see. The bright spot was probably the Men’s Bonspiel, which had 16 teams for the first time in many years.”
Strong youth participation this past season suggest curling has a bright future in Canora.
“Our kids curling Wednesday nights was well attended with an enthusiastic group of youngsters,” said Wilson. “It focuses on learning the fundamentals of curling and making coming to the rink fun. We also had some excellent parent volunteers, which spearheaded the creation of some youth teams for teenage curlers. This was an excellent addition to the club and something I hope we can expand in the coming years, so when the kid curlers are ready to compete they have somewhere to play.
Looking to the future, the philosophy of the Canora Curling Club board “is to find ways to say ‘yes’ to anything that promotes curling in our community. We want to continue to expand our programs and encourage anyone with ideas to bring them to us either in person via email or on social media,” continued Wilson. “We are going to review everything we do over the coming months and ensure we are providing the best opportunity for people to enjoy the great sport of curling.”
Wilson said the club couldn’t function the way it does without the hard work of many unsung individuals behind the scenes, including “our icemakers who work tirelessly to ensure we have a wonderful playing surface, our excellent kitchen staff who make being at the rink a happy place win or lose, our sponsors who humble us with making curling affordable for everyone, the town staff who are there to support us whenever we need it, and the countless volunteers who are ready to lend a hand whenever we ask.”
“It’s a wonderful place to spend the long cold winter months and we hope to see you there next fall!”
