Morning Star Staff
Rick Cotter always wanted the best junior curling teams to get well prepared for yearly playdowns and earn a few dollars.
He started a cashspiel in 1999 and after he died in 2005, the McArthur Island Curling Club in Kamloops re-named it the Rick Cotter Memorial Junior Cashspiel and ran the event until 2011.
Rick’s son, Jim, and daughter, Chelan, jumpstarted the extravaganza after a three-year hiatus and the 16th annual cashspiel goes this weekend at the Vernon Curling Club.
“World-class icemaker Dave Merklinger and the Vernon Curling Club were thrilled about it and we hit the ground running,” said Jim, a regular at the Brier.
There are nine female rinks and eight male foursomes entered with the opening draw going at 3:30 p.m. today. The finals are scheduled for Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
Keynote speaker at tonight’s taco dinner is Wiinipeg’s Cathy Gauthier, a world-class curler and TSN and Global TV broadcaster.
Gauthier, who was the longtime second for Connie Laliberte, last played the lead position on the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts championship team of Jennifer Jones.
Gauthier also won two championships with Laliberte in 1992 and 1995, before winning with Jones in 2005.
Although she is one of the few women to win three championships on the national level, she has not won a world gold medal. She left the Jones team in May 2005 due to family commitments.
The female champion pockets $2,200 with the runner-up earning $1,700 and the third-place foursome taking home $1,000 and fourth $750.
On the male side, the winners collect $2,000 with the losing finalists bagging $1,500. Third place is worth $850, fourth $650.
The junior women’s entries: Sarah Daniels, Heather Drexel, Cierra Fisher, Christine MacKay, Megan McGillvary, Mariah Coulombe, Megan Bourassa, Corryn Brown, Alyssa Connell and Caryl Connor.
Brown, of Kamloops, was the skip of the winning team at the 2013 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, and represented Canada at the 2013 World Juniors, where she was ninth.
The junior men’s entries: Jordan Kiss, Thomas Love, Jordan Kiss, Tyler Proctor, Havato Sato, Tyler Tardi, Scott Wilson, Jessie Monette and Matthew McGrady
n The 67th Silver Star Ladies Bonspiel goes this weekend with tonight’s first draw at 5:15.
The sponsors are: A event Kemp Harvey Laidman-Betts; B event Vernon Veterinary Clinic; Lisa VanderVelde/Morning Star; C event Red Head Real Estate/Denise Dobie; D event The Rise Golf Course. Entertainment will be provided by Johnston Meier Insurance.
The semifinals go Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and ther finals at 2 p.m.
There is a second draw tonight at 7:30 with Saturday draws at 8 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 1, 3:15 and 7 p.m. There is a Sunday 9 a.m. draw.
Bonspiel director Gail Powls was expecting a full field of 24.