Alicia Wallace
Rossland News
The Royal Canadian Legion branch #14 of Rossland is hosting the 2015 BC Legion Bonspiel at the Rossland Curling Club. The provincial curling tournament will be held this weekend from Friday Jan. 23 to Sunday Jan. 25.
Eight teams from across British Columbia will compete for the final place and the opportunity to play in the nationals, held in Saskatchewan in March.
The Rossland curling team won the West Kootenay zone playdown to represent the region in the provincial tournament. The zone playdowns were also hosted by the Legion and Rossland’s curling club and held here on home ice in November of last year.
For those unfamiliar with bonspiel, the curling game pitches two teams of four people against one another; each team member throws two rocks. The team name is determined by the last name of the team’s skip position.
Hall will be the name of one of Rossland’s teams, with Tom Hall playing as the team’s skip. Tom Hall is also chairman of the organizing committee and invites the community to watch the games being held at the curling club on Second Avenue. “The Legion and the (curling) club are very proud to be the hosting the 2014/15 provincial playdowns. Please come out and cheer on your local and visiting teams,” he said.
On Thursday before the competition begins, the Legion will host a high tea for competitors, giving the club the opportunity to get paperwork finalized. Then the serious part begins at 10 a.m. on Friday. The eight teams from across the province will be divided into two pools and play a round robin. The winner of pool A will go on to play second play from pool B; the winner of pool B plays second place in pool A. These semifinal games will be held on Saturday commencing from 9:30 a.m.
In regards to play strategy, Hall says spectators can expect to see a number of game tactics depending on the visiting teams’ ice conditions. “There will be a variety of strategies played by the teams from across the province. Different strategies are used for different ice conditions,” he explained.
The final game is held at 10 a.m. on Sunday where competitors will curl it out for the provincial trophy and a mostexpenses paid trip to the nationals in Saskatchewan.