Curling, like every other sport in the country, has faced major obstacles during the pandemic but has managed to get the essentials done. The Olympic trials were held for the 2022 Beijing Winter Games next month with Team Gushue to represent sa国际传媒 in the men’s competition and Team Jones in women’s.
Now it’s time to finish business with the provincial championships leading to the Tim Hortons Brier national men’s championship from March 5 to 14 in Calgary and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts national women’s championship from Jan. 28 to Feb. 6 in Thunder Bay, Ont.
The 2022 sa国际传媒 championships began Monday in Kamloops, and in a well-worn sign of the times, with no fans allowed to watch the event live. But the organizers and curlers are just happy to be playing at all following a dark 2021 for the provincial championships.
“After the cancellation of last year’s championships due to COVID-19, it was, at times, an uphill battle to make this year’s event happen,” Curl sa国际传媒 said in a statement.
“It all came together, though, through the tireless efforts of the event’s organizing committee, our ice technicians, officials, volunteers, and of course, our athletes.”
There is a respectable Island presence in both the 12-team male and eight-team female provincial tournaments. Team Dangerfield of Victoria heads into the men’s side with skip Neil Dangerfield, third Dennis Sutton, second Darren Boden and lead Connar Croteau. Team de Jong of Victoria goes in with a bit of pedigree with skip Cameron de Jong the former sa国际传媒 junior men’s champion and sa国际传媒 mixed champion. De Jong is backed by third Andrew Komlodi, second Matt Tolley and lead John Slattery.
Two-time Brier competitor Dean Joanisse from Victoria now leads a Royal City rink but is best known for his heroics when based on Island ice, including winning the 2001 and 2007 sa国际传媒 men’s titles and the 1989 Canadian junior championship before placing fourth in the world juniors.
Everybody will be aiming to knock off the dynastic Jim Cotter rink from Kelowna and Vernon, which has represented sa国际传媒 at the Brier eight times. Two-time sa国际传媒 finalist Jason Montgomery of Victoria has come close in reaching two provincial championship games but is not in this year’s provincial tournament.
On the women’s side, Team Gushulak of Victoria is highly experienced with skip and two-time Scotties veteran Diane Gushulak, third Stephanie Jackson-Baier — an Islander who has been part of eight sa国际传媒 championship rinks over her career — second and two-time Scotties player Carley Sandwith-Craig and lead Kimberly Dennis.
Another veteran-loaded crew with strong Island ties is Team Wark with skip Sarah Wark, third Kristen Pilote, second Karla Thompson and lead Amanda Guido. Former Victoria curler Wark, now of Abbotsford, was 2019 sa国际传媒 women’s champion and represented the province in the Scotties.
The Shawna Jensen rink of Victoria, meanwhile, includes Layna Pohlod, Catera Park and Merit Thorson.
The tournament runs through Sunday in Kamloops. The semifinals and finals will be broadcast live on CHEK-TV.
Note to readers: This story has been corrected. An earlier version said the mixed pairs Olympic team had been selected. In fact, the trials are this week.
