It took extra ends to win it, but the Randy Veitch rink from Comox won the ‘A’ event at the annual Parksville Curling Club Summer Bonspiel last weekend.
Event organizer Jim Hoffman says the Veitch rink defeated the Joanice rink in a great game that had the players and fans watching until the end.
Participants in the annual summer ‘spiel came from across Vancouver Island, the mainland and from as far away as Manitoba and Pennsylvania.
“That’s a first for us,” Hoffman said of the team from the U.S.A. “That’s the team from the furthest away. We’ve had teams from Manitoba and Oregon, but that is the furthest.”
He said players from Pennsylvania were in the city for the annual curling camp held at the Parksville Curling Club — camps for both adults and youth (those are going on this week, with the youth camp having started on Thursday).
The competition, Hoffman continued, was better than ever this year, despite the fact that there were fewer teams in the competition than ever before.
Only 21 rinks turned out, he said, the lowest-ever turnout. Normally, the Parksville Summer Bonspiel attracts in the neighbourhood of 34 rinks. Reasons for the low turnout this year varied, he added, saying the club will be working extra hard next year to try and attract a higher number of teams back to the city.
Local rink numbers, Hoffman added, were low, while out-of-town teams made up a higher proportion of those who did turn up this year.
Yet, Hoffman said the ice was great — especially since the club hosted an ice makers’ clinic prior to the bonspiel. It was so good, local ice maker Tim Kottsieper was able to curl with a rink as well. In fact, said Hoffman, his team won the C event final.
Other results from the 2012 Parksville Curling Club Summer Bonspiel:
B Event winner: Wes Craig rink (former provincial mixed curling champion).
D Event winner: Van Osch rink out of Nanaimo. They defeated the Chester rink, also from Nanaimo, for that one.
To learn more about the Parksville Curling Club and upcoming events, visit www.parksvillecurling.com.