The Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre will be a packed house beginning on Thursday afternoon when 12 teams take to the rinks to compete at the Women’s Provincial Curling Championship.
“It will definitely be a packed house,” said Danielle Sicinski, Chair of the Junior Women’s Provincial Championship. “It is the new generation of curlers coming in that we get to see now.”
The action begins at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday with the opening draws between the two pools of six teams each. The official opening ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. with Amber Holland throwing the opening rock. The second draw in the round robin action will begin at 7:30 p.m. The tournament will wrap up on Sunday afternoon with the final slated for 2 p.m. or 5 p.m., depending on if a tiebreaker game is needed.
The level of competition will be high as the teams will be competing for a spot at the National Championships in Napanee, ON in February.
“As a curler, this is a dream come true for the winners, as they get to go to Nationals,” said Sicinski. “They get to wear the green jackets and represent Saskatchewan and get to earn purple hearts, which is a big thing in curling.”
If the Saskatchewan team is successful in Napanee, they will then go onto Worlds and represent Canada in Sweden this year.
“The experience is incredible,” said Sicinski.
Some of the teams to watch are Kristen Streifel’s rink from Saskstoon, Lorraine Schneider from Regina and Brooklyn Lemon from Saskatoon. Also, Moose Jaw’s Malysha Johnstone, Kaitlin Corbin, Emily Farago and Amanda Esmond will also be competing in the Championship.
“It is going to be really tough competition,” she said. “There are going to be a lot of teams here that are really great curlers and they come from curling families.”
This is the first provincial event held at the Curling Centre and the committee has been putting it a lot of time to make sure the event runs smoothly.
“This is just huge, with it being the first year of the facility,” said Sicinski. “To be able to bring in an event like this is just tremendous. It is not only going to be a fabulous event for the curlers, but also for the spectators.”
There are still tickets available to purchase with main level seating at $15 for a weekend pass or $5 for a day pass and second level seating is $25 for the weekend pass or $10 for a day pass, if tickets are still available.
For more information, contact the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre at 862-9795.
For more on this story, read Wednesday's Times-Herald.
