The provincial curling season wrapped up in Langley over the Easter long weekend with a lower-than-usual number of teams competing in the 2024 AMJ Campbell BC Mixed Curling Championship.
Hosted by the Langley Curling Centre at the George Preston Recreation Centre in Brookswood over four days, the event saw gold go to Team Tanaka, skipped by Cody Tanaka, with third Sarah Wong, second Joshua Miki and lead Amanda Wong, from Richmond and Royal City rinks.
Winning the final match on Sunday, March 31, means Team Tanaka will represent BC at the national championships in St. Catherines, Ontario, in November.
Silver went to Team Wenzek, skipped by Daniel Wenzek, out of the Royal City Curling Club, while bronze was won by Team Pohlod, skipped by Layna Pohlod, with players from Royal City and Tunnel Town rinks.
Team lead Greg Pohlod received the Sportsmanship Award, as voted on by his peers.
In all, seven teams competed, including Langley’s Team Frycz, skipped by Darren Frycz, who did not make it to the podium.
Turnout was significantly lower than the usual number of mixed teams, according to Curling Centre manager Robyn Parkes, who wasn’t sure why, but speculated it might have something to do with holding it on a long weekend.
“This was a really low-attended event, honestly,” Parkes commented, adding the quality of play was “still top-notch.”
Last year, when the event was held in March in Penticton, it drew 13 teams.
While it was the last provincial competition of the season for the curling centre at George Preston, local events are still pending, including the novice bonspiel at the Langley Curling Centre on Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7 and the “Nifty 50” annual event for curlers 50 years of age and older, which runs from Sunday, April 7 to Wednesday, April 10.
Scott Braley, CEO of Curl BC, the provincial sport governing body, called April a “busy month” for the sport, with three provincial championships at different rinks to wrap up the season, including the Langley event.
“A big thank you to all three of these clubs and their volunteers and staff for doing such a great job of hosting,” Braley said.
“Congratulations to all the competitors for having the courage to compete and the coaches, officials and ice techs who are so key to every championship.”
With more than 23,000 curlers playing regularly at 88 affiliated curling centres across the province, Braley said the number of curlers was back up to pre-COVID levels.
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