The Cochrane Curling Club was up to its old tricks again, throwing the rock and sharing some laughs during the always entertaining Men's Bonspiel on Jan. 26 and 27.
"I think this weekend was fantastic. There was great participation in the curling department and we got a lot of support from the spectators and the sponsors were more than generous with their time," said bonspiel organizer Kendall Waiting. "The donations they provided to us were wonderful and the curlers overall had a great experience ... our 'A' and 'C' final came down to the last rock so after something like that with having 36 teams involved, you can't ask for anything more."
Skip Greg Hill and his team defeated Warren Kozak's squad in the 'A' final while Mike Repp and Rhett Friez respective teams won the 'B' and 'C' final. Waiting said the level of competition throughout the event was as strong as its ever been.
"The competition was close. The first games can sometimes be a little more lopsided because they're more of a seeding round, but once you get past that, everyone is put in different groups that better reflect their skill level which leads to better competition," Waiting said.
"Overall, we had good feedback from all of the curlers about the facility, conditions of the ice and the overall experience of the bonspiel which of course led to great competition across all the divisions. When you do something as big as this event you're going to run into a hiccup here or there, but I'd say 90 per cent of the feedback we received was positive and when we mentioned that we were going to give every curler that was participating a chance to get the first shot at next year's entry, almost all said they'd be returning and really value the opportunity."
With such a large number of teams and spectators involved, Waiting believes this weekend will be beneficial to the growth of curling in the Town of Cochrane.
"The growth has been great, our junior program overall has increased dramatically. We have over 40 plus children in our Sunday afternoon program that we teach and it really helps having the facility and a common place with the pool, rinks and field house because it gives the opportunity for people to see the sport who maybe haven't before," Waiting said. "It's great to see our young people coming in and we actually had a few junior curlers taking part in the event this weekend with different members playing on different teams."
United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) also played a huge role in making sure the tournament was a success, donating $800 to the curling club.
"They also donated a ton of merchandise that was used as raffle prizes and it was great to have our local area representatives come out and hand us the cheque," Waiting said.
"That money will be doled out between the four bonspiels that the club runs. The junior, men's, ladies and mixed will all be getting a piece of the donation. Every little bit obviously helps as we're a nonprofit society and that money with help with costs and ensure that we make the game affordable and reachable for all."
The club will host a couple events in the month of February as the Sturling Bonspiel will take place on Feb. 16 and the Ladies Bonspiel will be Feb. 22 to the 24.
