The massive and largely unexpected dump of more than 30 centimetres of snow on March 8 did not put a noticeable damper on the kickoff to the annual Sundre Oilmen’s Curling Bonspiel.
Although early morning draws when the snow was still coming down heavily might likely have resulted in some late appearances or possibly cancellations, there were only two draws that evening, by which point the snow had ceased, said Glen Smith, a sitting director on the Sundre Oilmen’s Committee.
“We had 16 rinks,” he said.
“That was up four from last year.”
Up until last year, when there were only 12, the number of teams registering for the bonspiel had slowly but surely been on the decline, he added.
“So we went to a new format this year. We opened it up.”
Women were welcome to join and form mixed teams with the men in any combination, he said.
“We’re hoping to build on that next year,” he said, adding the event was previously just for men.
Many women he spoke with had not yet heard about the changed format and expressed interest in participating, he said.
“We feel fairly positive that we’ll be able to get more teams,” he said, adding, “We’re looking forward to expanding.”
However, as has always been the case, at least two players from each team had to either be currently working in, or previously been employed in, the energy sector, he said.
There were four events, and he said each rink was guaranteed four games throughout the bonspiel, which ran March 8-10.
The winners were as follows: A event — SNL rink skipped by Travis Phillips; B event — ACL Manufacturing INC rink skipped by Kevin Humphrey; C event — Whitecap Resources rink skipped by Colin Jorsvick; and D event — Profire rink, skipped by Darren Vancuren.
Most of the rinks were local, but several came in from other areas such as Eagle Hill, Rocky Mountain House, Torrington, Cochrane and Red Deer, he said.
“We try to get out to some of their spiels too,” he said, adding the mutual support is important to help make possible the bonspiels.
Scratching one another’s back helps to make the events more successful, and Smith said any profits generated from the Oilmen’s Bonspiel are donated to local junior sporting club programs such as curling and golf.
“We donate every year to those.”
Of course none of that would be possible in the first place in the absence of support from sponsors and donors, he added.
“Without them, we wouldn’t be able to do it,” he said, expressing gratitude to everyone who contributed to the bonspiel.
The Sundre Oilmen’s Committee also organizes an annual golf tournament in August, with any proceeds generated supporting local organizations as well. Between the curling and golf events, the organization donates about $5,000 a year to the following: Greenwood Neighbourhood Place in support of Sundre Santa’s; Sundre Nutrition for Learning Society; Sundre Aquaplex; STARS; Sundre Cubs and Scouts; the Grade 8 sailing trip; as well as Sundre Junior Curling and the Sundre Curling Club, he said.
