The 2017-18 Parksville Chrysler Competitive Cash Curling League is now in full swing, with games held every Wednesday night at the Parksville Curling Club.
The league, which includeds competitive teams from Courtenay to Duncan, started four weeks ago and features ten rinks this season. This is the third year Parksville Chrysler has sponsored the league, which is in its fifth year overall.
“This league is organized to provide great competition on arena ice and hopefully prepare teams that enter playdowns to provincial, national and world championships in curling,” said Penny Shantz, a member of Team Lynne Noble that won the BC Senior Ladies Championsip and bronze medals at the Canadian championships earlier this year.
Shantz said teams play all year and are paid $35 for each win. They also play skins curling twice a year, with a $100 prize for each game.
Current standings have Parksville’s Bruce Feltham’s team on top, winning his first four games this year. Feltham is the 2016 BC Pacific Coastal/Interiors Masters Champion.
Last year’s league champions were the Kesa Van Osch team from Nanaimo, which is also the league’s competitive ladies rink. Kesa’s sisters, Kalia and Marika, also play on the team, and their mom Cindy has joined as lead even though she resides in Vancouver.
Kesa’s rink recently finished third in the Kamloops Crown of Curling on the World Curling Tour and is vying to represent the province at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Provincial Championships in Victoria and the Scotties Tournament Nationals in Penticton. Kesa Van Osch has won the BC’s and Marika won the junior B.C.s last year with another team. They are all former junior B.C. champions.
The league also has a junior boys competitive team this year — skip Jackson Marshall, third Mack Ellis, second Duncan Gallop and lead Troy Cowan. They are currently playing in the BC Junior Curling Tour, travelling throughout the province while gearing up for their zone and provincial championships.
Rounding out the field, the league also have Carey Sulz with his team of Greg Peachey, Chris Mohr and Bob Hirschfield. “These guys are always No. 1 or No. 2 by the end of the season,” said Shantz.
— Submitted by Penny Shantz