The B.C. Stick Curling Championships are well underway at the Armstrong and District Curling Club.
Sixteen teams of two are competing for a chance to move on to the Canadian Stick Curling Championships, hosted by the Nanaimo Curling Centre from March 30 to April 2.
The tournament kicked off Friday, Feb. 17. In the preliminary round, the Armstrong pair of John Campbell and Derrell Sears fell to the defending champion Prince George duo of Jamie Mould and Gary Shalansky by a score of 4-3.
On Saturday the Campbell/Sears team beat another Armstrong team —Tim Smith and Chris Pieper — 4-1 in the Group B final.
This is the third time Curl BC has put on a Stick Curling Championship, and event manager Will Sutton said there’s no better place to hold the games.
“Armstrong really is the home of stick curling in British Columbia, there’s a tonne of stick curlers here along with many other regular style of curlers here in the city,” Sutton said. “It’s really exciting for us to come here.”
Armstrong Curling Club manager Steve Gunner said 60 per cent of the club’s 240 members are stick curlers.
“We value stick curlers, we look after them and we treat them very well,” he said.
Gunner guessed it’s been about 20 years since the curling club hosted a Curl BC sanctioned event.
“I’m happy for it, it shows a certain confidence in our club, and our volunteers have been really happy and excited to respond. We think we’re putting on a good event.”
For the full tournament results, click here.
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