Rainwater Rambling

The girls and I had a good day at Draws 3 and 4 at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines. The first draw started at 9:30 am.

The defending champion, Team Canada skip Chelsea Carey.

Gillian’s favourite curler, Rachel Homan.

Last years runner-up Krista McCarville from Northern Ontario.

We saw Gillian’s and Angela’s curling coach from their days at Mount Carmel. Mr Young retired a couple of years ago and volunteering at a Canadian championship was on his bucket list. We went down after the final game of Draw 4 and the girls were able to say hi. He told the girls he bought a 32 ft sail boat and he invited the family to go out this summer. He gave us his telephone number and just told us to give him a couple of days notice.

Facing Team Homan in Draw 3 was Team Mallet from British Columbia.

A break between ends.

On the next sheet was Northern Ontario against Quebec, at one point the two rocks were so close, it took two officials to measure and come up with the same result, they couldn’t determine which was closer. In the end Northern Ontario took a steal of 1 and Quebec was 2nd shot.

Team Quebec skip Eve Bélisle. In the end Quebec lost 9-4 to Northern Ontario.

Keeping an eye on Chelsea Carey. They won 6-4 over Nova Scotia.

On the button.

Emma Miskew, the third for Team Homan, Ontario defeated BC 9-3.

It was chilly inside the arena.

Hans Madsen from Yorkton, Saskatchewan. He attends almost every major curling event and is known for colouring his beard the colours of the team he is cheering for, usually a different team each draw.

Shannon Kleibrink, the skip for Team Alberta.

Team Newfoundland and Labrador.

Their skip is Stacie Curtis.

Kerry Galushsa, the skip for Team Northwest Territories. They had to win the pre-qualifying event yesterday to get into the main draw. Next year they are expanding the field to 16 teams, so every province and territory, along with Team Canada, Northern Ontario and one other team will be in the field.

Heather Nedohin is the alternate for Team Alberta, in Draw 4 she was playing first stones. She is there as a backup for Kleibrink who has been having back issues since the provincial playdowns.

Sarah Fullerton, the third for Team PEI. They were playing Team Ontario and ended up losing 8-3.

Lesley Wilson, the second for Team Manitoba. They had a good day winning both of their draws.

There was a panda in the crowd from Quebec.

I can now add the Scotties to my list of major curling championships. I went to the Brier in 2011 with Gillian and the school curling teams when it was held in London, ON. The same year I attended the World Men’s Curling Championship in Regina, SK. Last year Gillian and I saw the Ontario Scotties in Brampton, ON. We have attended three Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Championships in Toronto and I saw the Northern Ontario Senior Men’s Provincial Curling Championship in Geraldton, ON in 2013. My missing championship is the Woman’s Worlds. In 2018 they are being held in North Bay, ON, we might have to do a road trip. Next year will also see the WFG Continental Cup move from Las Vegas to London, ON.