Brandon men’s and ladies’ bonspiels combining

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This article was published 12/01/2023 (711 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A lot of curling competitions have gone the way of the corn broom as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case of the Brandon men’s and ladies bonspiels, however, a reset has taken place.

Both events are now under one banner as the Wheat City Curling Classic, which runs this weekend at the Brandon and Riverview Curling Clubs.

“This was an idea that we had a few years now as the winning formula for a lot of clubs is to have their men’s and women’s bonspiel run together to make it a more social event,” committee member Cale Dunbar said.

“The entries for both bonspiels here had been dwindling over the last few years so we had to do something to breathe a little life into it. We had our first meeting about the bonspiel on Nov. 10 and we got everything off the ground about six weeks later.”

Fellow committee member Michelle Klemick added another goal for the event is to help get more people back into the clubs, especially after the pandemic took away a lot of the social elements of curling for over two years.

“We just want to have something for curlers to do again,” Klemick said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s newcomers, people from other communities, or those who haven’t played in a while.

“We want people to be excited about being back in our clubs and to take part in a fun event. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.”

The early returns are positive for the event. There’s a field of 32 men’s rinks and 24 women’s squads ahead of today’s opening draw.

“There’s been a few people that have come up and said ‘Oh, that’s going to be a fun weekend,’ when they’ve seen some of the teams that are in it,” Dunbar said. “On the other hand, there’s also some curlers that are pretty bummed out that they didn’t get a chance to get in this year and are wanting to sign up for next year already.

“We’re hoping this is the start of something big and we’d love to get to a point to what the events were like back in the day where there was curling for an entire week in Brandon.”

The Wheat City Curling Classic begins at 5:15 p.m. today at the Brandon Curling Club. The opening draw at the Riverview Curling Club starts at 6:15 p.m.

Both clubs will hold games through the weekend, with the men’s and women’s final getting underway at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Brandon Curling Club.

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The next major event on the provincial curling scene starts Tuesday night in Portage la Prairie as the Telus junior men’s and women’s championships are held at the Portage Curling Club.

Ten men’s squads and 11 women’s rinks are vying for two berths each at the 2023 Canadian Juniors, which run from March 25 to April 2 in Rouyn-Noranda, Que.

Jace Freeman’s rink from Virden – which includes Thomas McGillivray, Ryan Ostrowsky and Aaron Macdonell – is one of the favourites in the men’s event.

Hunter Dundas is skipping a squad from the Brandon Curling Club that features Tim Johnson, Ethan Marshall and Kieran Baron.

Brandonite Rylan Campbell is also competing as the third for Luke Robins’ West St. Paul squad.

In the women’s event, McCreary’s Zoey Terrick and her rink from the Heather Curling Club – which includes her sisters Jaycee and Tessa – are among the top contenders.

Another favourite is Katy Lukowich’s Granite squad, which won the Sun Life Junior Curling Challenge at the Brandon Curling Club in November.

Mikaylah Lyburn – who was born in Brandon and moved to Winnipeg at a young age – and Dauphin’s Makenna Hadway are the front end for the team.

Jordon McDonald and Tansy Tober, who won last year’s provincials in Brandon, are both back to defend their titles.

The men’s and women’s final will both take place at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21.

EXTRA ENDS: Despite qualifying for the Ontario men’s tankard later this month, Mike McEwen’s rink has made a lineup change as they announced on Thursday that they are parting ways with lead Jonathan Beuk. A replacement for the Toronto-based squad, which also includes Ryan Fry at third and Brent Laing at second, has yet to be announced.